Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry | 番茄炒蛋

Tomato and egg stir-fry is possibly one of the first dishes one would learn to cook back in my hometown. It’s simple, it’s fast, and yet the flavor of fresh sweet-sour tomato mixed with soft egg is so incredible. When I’m feeling lazy at lunch time I’ll just pick eggs and tomatoes out of the fridge, do the stir fry, and pour it onto rice or soup noodle – lunch within 20 minutes!

STEPS

1.

Whip eggs in a bowl into (with a fork or three chopsticks). If you are a new cooker, you can add in a teaspoon of water to make the fired egg softer and tender. Season the egg with salt.

2.

Cut the tomatoes into small chunks. If you like scallion, cut it into pieces. Separate scallion white and green.

3.

Use high heat all the time. Add in 2 teaspoons of oil in a hot wok. Pour in the egg mixture. Wait till the egg liquid starts to go solid. Stir the eggs into small pieces. Cook until there is no runny eggs, then pour it back into the bowl. The egg's color should be yellow, since turning brown means it is overcooked.

4.

Still, use high heat. Make sure the wok is heated. Add in 1 teaspoon of oil. If you've prepared scallion white, now is the time to add in. Stir fry the scallion white until fragrant. Add in the tomato. Stir fry until tomato begins to soften and produce water.

5.

Add back the eggs into the wok. Stir and mix the tomato with eggs. Turn the heat low for final seasoning. Add in a pinch of salt. (You can sample some if you are not sure if it is enough seasoned, if not, add in more salt.)

6.

Finally, pour the egg and tomatoes into a dish, or over your rice or noodle. If you've prepared scallion green, sprinkle it on the top. The remaining heat of the dish will make scallion green cooked. Ready to serve!

TIPS

The soul of stir-fry is heat and oil. Only enough heat can best stimulate the flavor of the ingredients, which generally true for Sichuan dishes. The ingredients added in will bring the temperature down, and that is why I emphasized on keeping the wok well heated before adding things in, and use high heat all the time. When you can feel warmth when you put you hand over it, the pan is readily heat.

Normally, adding in more oil can make the dish taste better, especially when stir-frying eggs -- another fact generally hold for Sichuan dishes. But too much oil is unhealthy and I just can't do it to myself. My mom told me to add oil not at the beginning, but when the wok is heated and starts to give off thin smoke, calling it "hot wok cold oil". I don't know why, perhaps it's good for the oil.

The scallion is only to make the flavor rich, and also add in a pinch of green to give a better look. I often skip that when I feel lazy, it doesn't hurt the key flavor.

Alright, although I have put down so much words, I hope you find the dish easy enough. If you have succeeded tomato and egg stir-fry, congratulations, you have got the entry ticket to the whole amazing world of stir-fires!