Tomato Egg Stir-Fry (番茄炒蛋)

Notice: This is a revised version of my original post published in 2017. It includes process photos, more tips and a video.

What is tomato egg stir-fry

I’m often asked which dish could represent Chinese cuisine. That’s an impossible question to answer considering the vast diversity of regional cuisines in China. However, there is one dish that’s popular in households all over the country: Tomato Egg Stir-fry.

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I personally label it as the “National Dish of China (国菜)” despite its simplicity and humble, homely nature. This was the first dish I, like many children in China, managed to cook on my own at a young age. 

If you have a look at the comments at the end of this post, you’ll surely get a sense of how important the dish is to people who grew up or had in-depth experiences in China.  

Chinese tomato egg stir-fry (known as Fān Qié Chǎo Dàn/番茄炒蛋 or Xī Hóng Shì Chǎo Jī Dàn/西红柿炒鸡蛋) features tangy, juicy tomatoes and tender, fluffy scrambled eggs which are lightly flavored with basic aromatics and seasoning. 

Although it involves neither fancy ingredients nor complicated cooking methods, it’s by no means a plain dish. In one mouthful, you taste layers of flavors: sour, sweet, salty, garlicky, and umami. You can find similar flavor profiles in classic dishes like Tomato Egg Noodle Soup, Tomato Egg Drop Soup, etc.

Quick and cheap to make, it makes a great all-in-one meal over rice or noodles. If you’re on a vegetarian diet, this is a great dish to try (Similar recipes include Chinese Chive and Egg, Pickled Chili and Egg).

Why this recipe

This tomato egg recipe reflects exactly how my parents cook this dish. It’s the northern Chinese style which calls for minimum seasoning and doesn’t have an intensely sweet taste. I love the fact that the natural flavors of the key ingredients shine through beautifully.

I’ve come across many variations of the dish which involve other seasonings, such as soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, ketchup, white pepper, etc. After testing, I remain happy to stick to the simplest version that I’m sharing today.

The concept of “less is more” works well in this dish. Let me know if you agree with me after trying.

Ingredients

The list is super short! Apart from pantry staples like oil, salt, and sugar, you only need tomato, eggs, garlic, and scallions.

Notes on tomatoes

You may use any type of tomato available to you. But if you want to produce the best-tasting tomato egg stir-fry, follow these tips:

• Choose naturally ripened tomatoes as they’re less acidic, sweeter, juicier, and have tender flesh.
• Thin-skinned ones are preferable to thick-skinned ones.
• Plum/cherry tomatoes aren’t ideal as I find their skin-to-flesh ratio is a bit off.

Tomato to egg ratio

For 2 servings, I usually use 4 medium tomatoes (about 11oz/310g) and 4 eggs. 

Please feel free to adjust the ratio based on your own preference. If you like the dish more saucy and tangy, increase the tomato quantity.

Aromatics

Garlic and scallions (green onion/spring onion) add extra flavor to the dish. The latter also contributes visually. If you love the taste of ginger, mince some and fry it along with the garlic.

Seasonings

Salt and sugar are all that you need to season this dish. The latter is for balancing the sourness of tomatoes, as well as enhancing the umami taste (known as Tí Xiān/提鲜 in Chinese).

Cooking oil

I often receive questions about oil for Chinese cooking. For Stir-fry dishes like this one, use neutral-flavored oil with a high smoking point. Sunflower, peanut, canola, vegetable, soybean, rapeseed, and corn oil are good choices.

Step 3: Scramble the egg

Here are two different approaches:

• If using a non-stick skillet/frying pan: add oil then heat it up over high heat until it becomes very hot. Pour in the egg mixture. Once the bottom part sets, move with a spatula to allow the running part to flow to the hot surface. Break the scrambled egg into small pieces then transfer to a plate.
• If using a carbon steel wok: heat the empty wok until smoking then add the oil. Follow the same method to scramble the egg.

🛎 Pro tip: During this step, your goal is to cook the egg to a fluffy, tender texture. To achieve that, make sure you keep the heat high so that the egg bubbles up quickly and it takes a very short time to cook through. Keep the whole process as brief as possible and avoid overcooking.

Step 4: Cook the tomato

After taking out the egg, turn the heat to medium and add a little oil to sizzle the garlic. Then stir in the chopped tomato. Fry for 20 seconds or so. Then add a little water. Leave to cook until the tomato becomes a little mushy.

🛎 Pro tip: If you want more sauce to flavor the rice or noodles you’re serving with, add more water and cook a bit longer so that the tomato disintegrates a little further. 

Step 5: Combine & season

Add the scrambled egg and season with salt and sugar. Put in chopped scallions and give everything a final stir. Taste to see if you need extra seasoning.

🛎 Pro tip: I like my tomato egg stir-fry on the savoy side so a pinch of sugar is enough. If you enjoy a sweeter taste (or the tomato you use is quite tart), please feel free to increase its quantity.

What to serve with

Ta-da! Your homemade tomato egg stir-fry is ready to be served. For a quick lunch, simply scoop it over steamed rice while piping hot. This makes a delicious and healthy Gài Jiāo Fàn/盖浇饭 ( all-in-one rice bowl) which contains protein, vegetables, and carbohydrates.

For dinner, pair it with other savory dishes along with rice. Take what we had last time with this dish: braised pork belly, garlic bok choy, and smashed cucumber. Does this sound like a good combination?

Sometimes, I also use it as a topping for noodles. In this case, I’d use more tomatoes and cook them a little longer so that I’d have enough sauce to cover each strand of noodles.

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