Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry 番茄炒蛋 (Cantonese: fan ke chow dan) or 西紅柿炒雞蛋 (xī hóng shì chaǒ jī dàn) is one of the most common home-cooked dishes amongst the Chinese. It may possibly be the most common dish. Everyone has their own way of making it. But a well-made one takes a bit of skill or know-how. I guess this can apply to everything under the sun. Who knew this seemingly inconspicuous dish can be such a skill-testing dish.
Important aspects in making the perfect Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry 番茄炒蛋/西紅柿炒雞蛋….. First is the egg. The egg pieces should be approximately 1 cm thick, not too big, not too small, airy, soft and silky. The tomatoes should be soft but not paste-like with the skin still intact if you chose to leave the skin on. The sauce shouldn’t be runny, otherwise it’ll taste bland and look like soup. The sauce should be thick enough so that when you pick up the egg and tomato with chopsticks, the sauce adheres to them. There should also be an equal ratio of egg and tomatoes.
In my Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry 番茄炒蛋 recipe, I’ll show you how to make this dish perfectly the first time. From start to finish, this dish should take you only around 10 minutes to make. And, you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen already. It’s the ideal “go to” dish when you’re in a hurry or you need a quick and simple dish to complete your dinner ensemble.
My son is a true carnivore, but he loves this dish with a big bowl of white rice. He doesn’t even realize it’s vegetarian. Sometimes when I’m testing recipes, we end up eating the same thing for days. Even the best dishes don’t taste so good when you’re eating it day after day. Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry 番茄炒蛋 is the best palette cleanser for us. The sweet acidity can stimulate the appetite and the velvet texture of the whole dish makes it quite refreshing. It’s great for me because it’s quick, economical, delicious and nutritious!
Love eggs? Try my Steamed Egg with Pork 滑蛋蒸豬肉, it's another one of my son's favourites!
Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry 番茄炒蛋
Ingredients
- 450 g Tomatoes (approx. 5 medium ones)
- 4 Large eggs
- ½ tsp Salt for eggs
- ½ tsp Salt for sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Ketchup
- 1 tsp Cornstarch
- 3 tbsp Water
- ½ stalk Green onions , chopped
- 3 tbsp Oil
Instructions
- Crack 4 large eggs into a mixing bowl. Add ½ tsp salt and beat eggs until well mixed. Set aside
- Cut tomatoes into wedges. Set aside
- Make a slurry by combining 1 tsp cornstarch with 3 tbsp water. Set aside
- Chop green onions. Set aside
- Heat wok on high heat. Add 2 tbsp oil
- Add eggs to wok. Use spatula to gently push egg up one side of the wok so that you make folds in the egg and gently breaking them up into large pieces.
- Stir-fry the eggs until you get bite size pieces but not too thick. Cooking the eggs should take around 1 minute.
Better to undercook them than overcook them as they will go back in the wok later. Overcooked eggs can be tough and rubbery. The eggs for this dish should be soft and silky - Remove egg from the wok
- Add 1 tbsp oil to the wok
- Add tomatoes. Add ½ tsp salt and 1 tbsp Ketchup. Stir-fry until tomatoes are starting to lose its shape.
- Turn heat down to medium
- Stir the slurry and pour into the wok slowly. Gently push the tomato mixture in the wok until it thickens
- Add egg back into the wok.
- Stir-fry and mix well
- Put on serving plate and add chopped green onions
- Serve
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