The Comforting Chinese language Dish My Mother Made When Life Received Busy

Within the West, eggs are sometimes related to breakfast and brunch. However rising up in Hong Kong, I realized that eggs had been completely acceptable dinner fare. At the very least as soon as every week, my mother would put together Chinese language scrambled eggs with shrimp, char siu (barbecued pork), or tomatoes, which we might eat alongside steamed fish, a stew of some sort, sautéed greens and—in fact—rice. Of all of the variations on Chinese language scrambled eggs, my favourite is the model with tomatoes. 

Affectionately referred to as “tomato egg” in Chinese language households, the dish consists of soppy, jammy tomatoes folded into tender scrambled eggs. A contact of Shaoxing wine brings a delicate sweetness, whereas soy sauce and toasted sesame oil give it savory depth. Each household, nonetheless, has their very own model of tomato egg. As Critical Eats contributor Jenny Dorsey wrote in her James Beard award-nominated recipe for the dish, “the variations of tomato and egg are infinite and ever-growing.” 

Most variations, together with Dorsey’s, require just some pantry staples and take lower than 20 minutes to whip up. To make it, you begin by gently scrambling eggs in a wok or skillet. As soon as the eggs are cooked, you switch them to a plate and add scallions, garlic, and ginger to the wok or skillet and cook dinner till they’re aromatic and softened. Then in go the tomatoes, and as soon as they’ve softened, the eggs return in and all the things is stirred collectively.

Whereas the recipe on our website doesn’t name for ketchup, I do take a web page out of my mother’s guide and sweeten the tomatoes with a tablespoon or two of ketchup, together with a pinch of sugar, which boosts the tomatoes’ pure sweetness. The dish is very scrumptious when made with ripe, in-season tomatoes, however I substitute with drained canned complete plum tomatoes when there aren’t any plump, juicy tomatoes close to me. Simply as tomato egg was a staple of my dad and mom’ desk rising up, it has grow to be a go-to dinner for my household as we speak—and when my son is sufficiently old to cook dinner, this can most likely be the very first thing I train him, as a result of everybody ought to have just a few fast, simple, and budget-friendly egg recipes of their again pocket.