Stir-fried Tomato and Egg (番茄炒蛋)
This dish is one of the most popular home-cooked Chinese dishes but it’s not one that’s often found at restaurants. That’s because it’s so simple that anyone can cook it at home. If you want to learn how to cook Asian dishes, start out with things like this and go for the restaurant-style dishes later.
Some say that this dish is the national dish of China, not just because it’s found all around the country, but also because it is the colours of the Chinese flag.
Ingredients
3 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp sugar
2 spring onions, cut into 5cm lengths
½ tsp cornflour, mixed with a little cold water
5 eggs, beaten
Method
Heat a wok over high heat and add 1 tbsp of oil. Add the tomatoes and fry for about 2 minutes until they start to soften. Add the salt, sugar, spring onions and ½ cup of water or stock. When the spring onions soften, stir through enough of the cornflour slurry to thicken the tomato mixture to a saucy consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Remove the tomato mixture from the wok and rinse the wok.
Return the wok to the heat and add the remaining oil. Add the eggs and stir once every 15 seconds or so until the eggs set to the texture of a loose omelette. Add the tomato mixture to the eggs and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, then serve immediately.
Top Tips for Stir-fried Tomato and Egg
- Some people like to add cornstarch or sesame oil to the eggs as well.
- It would be common to add a pinch of MSG to the tomatoes or eggs while cooking, but if you don’t want to do that and still want more savouriness you can add a bit of chicken stock powder, or a dash of fish sauce or soy sauce instead.
- Eat this with rice. That’s what it’s made for.
Hello Adam !
Amazing one ! Had it last week on a late dinner, just perfect ; Just did as you said in the video and cut down the quantities to 2 tomatoes 3 eggs because I was the only one eating ;
Amazing dish and recipe very well brought up by you !
Thanks a lot again !
Oliver
Hello Adam !
Amazing one ! Had it last week on a late dinner, just perfect ; Just did as you said in the video and cut down the quantities to 2 tomatoes 3 eggs because I was the only one eating ;
Amazing dish and recipe very well brought up by you !
Thanks a lot again !
Oliver
Hey Adam!
Loved this one! Reminded me of my dad’s cooking when I was growing up. He didn’t make his stirfry very often (we at a lot of boiled meats with veggies), but when he did fry these two ingredients together, we loved it! Thanks for sharing your recipes with us. 🙂
Yia
Hello Adam,
Had it this evening for dinner, my husband loved it. Just did as you said in the video;
Simple dish yet delicious.
Thank you.
Lilian
I add the sugar to the tomatoes first (for the maillard reaction – not sure if it makes a difference tbh), then a dash of vinegar before everything else.
Looks like this dish has heaps of regional variations!
So good for lunch! I could eat this everyday 🙂
A really easy recipe with some prep work. I really enjoyed it, simple with fresh ingredients and easy to digest. The natural MSG of the tomatoes really adds a lot to the flavor of the dish. Thank you for sharing!
Tried it and really liked the taste and simplicity.
Only issue was that my Wok lost the seasoning and the Dish tastes metallic…..
Was the seasoning of the Wok not properly done?
I absolutely LOVE this really simple but oh so good recipe. Been making it since it was first published. Home in lockdown feeling pretty crappy after the COVID jab, with no appetite, and this is what I’m breaking fast with! Delish. And reasonably healthy.