Only three common ingredients needed! Simple yet delicious, tomato and egg stir-fry is truly a national dish adored by every family in China.
tomato & egg stir-fry is truly a national dish
I’m wondering if any of you know what the colours of the Chinese Olympic team uniform are. They are red and yellow, representing the national flag. However, Chinese people are not very impressed by the design and have given it an unofficial nickname “Tomato and egg stir-fry”. Although mocked by the public, I don’t think the designer should feel ashamed. After all, tomato and egg stir-fry is truly a national dish, simple yet delicious, and adored by every family in China.
Only 3 common ingredients needed
In their very first attempt at cooking, most Chinese children are taught to cook “tomato and egg stir-fry”. It’s a simple dish that involves no difficulties. And it’s cheap to make. Whenever I’m in a hurry, the idea of cooking tomato and egg stir-fry always comes to my rescue.
Only THREE common ingredients needed for this dish: tomato, egg and garlic (I don’t include oil, salt and sugar, I assume you always have them in the kitchen).
It gives you layers of flavours
It takes only a few minutes to cook this dish. Simply accompanied by a bowl of plain rice or noodles, it makes a complete meal. Less is more. Although it involves neither fancy ingredients nor complicated techniques, tomato and egg stir-fry is by no mean a plain dish. It gives you layers of flavours, such as sour, salty, sweet, garlicky, and pleasant textures from mushy tomato and fluffy egg.
A few tips for this super simple dish
Recently in an online conversation, my old school friend Hua recalled: “You made tomato and egg stir-fry for us. I remember you used a strange method that was different from my family’s. It was delicious.” We were teenage girls back then, having an exciting dinner party when our parents were not around.
I don’t have any recollection of the dish I made, not to mention the special method that impressed my friend. However, after years of practice in the kitchen, I do have a few tips for this super simple dish.
- Add a little water to the raw egg to make it fluffier and tenderer when cooked.
- Use ripe tomatoes and peel off the skin. This makes the dish more flavoursome, juicier and gives it a better texture.
- Use garlic to enhance the fragrance. It goes very well with tomato and egg (This is my personal preference. Many people use spring onion instead).
Tomato and egg stir-fry (番茄炒蛋)
Ingredients
- 3 ripe tomatoes
- 3 eggs
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch sugar
- 1 tbsp chopped spring onion, for garnishing, optional
Instructions
- Peel off the skin of the tomatoes (see note). Then cut them into small chunks.
- Beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok (or a frying pan) on high heat. Pour in eggs when oil smokes. When the edge is cooked, push to one side to let uncooked part touch the bottom of the wok. Take the egg out as soon as there is no more liquid (do not overcook).
- Put 1 teaspoon of oil to the same wok, cook tomato and garlic on medium heat until tomato is a little mushy.
- Add cooked egg. Roughly break up the egg with the end of a spatula. Sprinkle salt and sugar, then give everything a quick stir.
- Garnish with spring onion before serving if you wish.
NOTES
- Cut a small cross on each tomato.
- Place them in very hot water.
- Take them out when you see the cut split.
- Pull the skin off when cool enough to touch.
Even if you don’t have any special Chinese ingredients to hand for the moment, you can still try this national dish of China. By the way, I have a soup recipe using very similar ingredients: Egg drop soup with tomato (番茄蛋汤). Check it out if you’re interested.
Have a yummy day!
I love EASY recipes like this. Will have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing it!
Great! Tell me how you guys like it. Will write more recipes of simple dishes.
Simple & easy to cook, will definitely try cooking these dishes. I’m sure these dishes are delicious! Looking out for more of your recipes! Thank you
You are welcome Lily! Stay safe & cook more yummy food!
I have a recipe almost exactly similar to this. It tastes amazing. I love eating it with rice and I eat it anytime of day. I love having it for breakfast though. I love your blog! The recipes are fantastic.
Hi Nabeah! Thank you very much for your kind words. Yes, this is such a classic dish. I can have it anytime of the day too. It’s one of my comfort foods which always reminds me where I come from. Glad that you like my blog. Hope you’ll find more recipes that you’d like to try. Have a great day!
I have cooked this dish many times in the past but I still learned something new from your recipe. You are right, adding a little water to the eggs does make the pan fried eggs more tender. I liked it. The photos you took are beautiful by the way. Thanks, Wei!
Thank you Zhien! Glad that you like my tip!
This was one dish i used to love when living in China.
Thanks for popping by Amanda! It’s such an easy dish that you can make it yourself no matter where you live.
What kind of noodles are those in the picture ? It looks like fettuccine but I doubt it is lol. The egg was delicious btw !
Thank you Amabelle! They are not Italian pasta. It’s a type of flat Chinese dried noodles.
I love this dish. It was my goto meal if others were eating something i couldn’t handle especially spicy, when I lived in Yantai, Shandong for 2 years teaching English. Now back in Arizona, I’ll ask to go off menu when I’m at a Chinese restaurant to see if they will make it for me. One local carry out said only one more person asks for it and she’s Chinese.
Hi Bob! Lovely to hear your story about Tomato & egg stir fry. This dish is clearly underrated. Hope you are enjoying your home cooked one!
This tasted amazing! Thanks for the recipe.
You are welcome! Enjoy!
I just found your blog. My family background is German and British Isles but I really like Chinese food and am so glad to have these recipes to try.
That’s great! Enjoy your time in the kitchen!
As a vegetarian who is making her first trip to Beijing this October I am very happy to discover your site! I can’t wait to try these recipes
Great trip to look forward to! I’m certain that you will find many delicious vegetarian dishes in Beijing. Thank you for visiting my blog!
I recently discovered this dish at a new Chinese resident near my work and I eat it at least once a week. I’m excited to learn how easy it is! I can make it myself and save tons of money, though I’ll still support my favorite restaurant.
Simple dish can be delicious. Happy cooking!
I have spent 11 years in Beijing and since i love cooking i thought i saw it all, but even in a ” beginner ” recipe like this i learn something new:) thank you! If you have time please post more aubergine recipes …it seems its the only veggie everybody in my family loves:)
Very happy to know that you find my recipe helpful. I love aubergine too and will write more recipes using this versatile vegetable.
I accidentally added in a little too much water with the eggs and oil with the tomatoes so they came out a little soupy (lack of sleep and still new-ish to the kitchen) but despite that this has been one of the best things I’ve ever cooked. The extra oil really got a nice quick flash fry of the tomatoes and garlic and the whole dish was so simple but delicious and really let the homegrown tomatoes especially stand out. Thank you so much for sharing this dish, it’s going to become a new go to. I ate the serving I had set aside for lunch I liked it so much!
You are welcome Josh! Yes delicious dishes don’t have to be complicated. Very happy to know you enjoyed my recipe. Good luck to your kitchen adventure!
Didn’t see a “note” about peeling the tomatoes….
Hi Mark! Thank you for reminding me of the display problem. I’ve fixed it and you can find the note on “peeling tomatoes” in the recipe box. Happy cooking!
I made this tonight and it came out perfect! The spring onion adds a third element of texture and taste, I loved it. Thank you for writing this up in such a clear form.
My pleasure to share! Very happy to know you’ve enjoyed my recipe.
Thank you for this recipe. Your water trick made such a difference.
It’s expensive to get beautifully ripe tomatoes here, so I’ll add a note to adjust the sugar up to 1/4 tsp if the tomatoes are tart. 🙂
My pleasure Shu! Thanks for sharing your trick!
This was one of my favourites during my first trip to China last year, in all its simplicity. The recipe and the tips you gave were great (especially adding water to make the eggs fluffier) and the end result took me right back to Shanghai in my memories. I will be for sure making it many, many times in the future. Thank you!
My pleasure Tuomas. So happy to know my recipe has helped you to satisfy your craving.
What do we do with the sliced garlic clove?!?!?!
Hi Bobby! As I mentioned in the recipe, sliced garlic is put into the wok along with the tomato.
Hello Wei,
What is considered a “cooking oil” as mentioned above?
Thank you so much I would like to try this recipe tomorrow for lunchtime for my kids–I’m sure they’ll love it!
Love,
Charlotte.
Hi Charlotte! For Chinese dishes, cooking oil refers to oil that has a high smoking point (so is suitable for stir-frying). Peanut oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, etc. are all fine. Olive oil, on the contrary, is not suitable for cooking at high temperature.
Wei, thank you so much for making these recipes available on line. It is very helpful to us who are looking for a quick meal or have unfamiliar food that we aren’t sure how to cook. Your recipes and ideas are a life saver. Please keep adding to your site. We love you.
My pleasure to share James! Yes, delicious food doesn’t have to be complicated. Glad you enjoy my recipe!