I shared tips for making the perfect classic Chinese style tomato and egg stir fry. It is juicy, tender and full of flavor.Have you seen this year’s Chinese olympic uniform, the media inside China describe it as one of the most classic Chinese dish–tomato and egg stir fry. Chinese red VS egg yellow!
Tomato and egg stir fry is the most popular dish on Chinese table. It is quick, easy but really not that simple to make the perfect version. The egg should be tender, wrapped with tomato juice and highlighted by a faint scallion aroma. This dish is one of the best partner of steamed rice, steamed buns or even noodles.
The key step of tender egg is to get it well beaten. Use a whisker to beaten the egg with a small pinch of salt and pepper until there is a small layer of fine bubbles. The air inside the egg liquid can help to make them fluffy and tender. Another key step is to choose mature enough tomatoes (juicy ones).
Heat around 1/4 cups of oil in wok until really hot, pour egg liquid in. Wait for seconds until the mixture firms. Turn off the fire immediately and then break into smaller pieces. Transfer egg out and leave the oil.
Add tomato wedges in and then use your spatula to slightly press them, so you can end up with more juices. Return egg back, add salt, sugar and scallion. Do a quick stir fry and serve immediately.
- 2 eggs
- 2 middle size tomatoes , cut into small wedges
- small pinch of salt and pepper , for egg liquid
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/8 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. salt , or to taste
- 1 scallion , cut into inch pieces
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In a small bowl, crack and add a small pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk until there is a small layer of fine bubbles and the mixture becomes slightly white.
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Cut tomato in halves and remove the core and then further cut into small wedges.
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Heat up oil in wok until really hot, stir egg mixture in. Wait for seconds until the egg liquid firms. Turn off the fire immediately and then break the egg into small pieces. Transfer the egg out and leave the oil in.
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Add tomato wedges in, fry until juicy. Return egg pieces, add salt, sugar and scallion. Do a quick stir fry to combine everything well. Serve immediately.
This looks delicious.
Thanks Paula!
Made this because I had some tomatoes from a friend’s garden. I didn’t add any sugar or salt, but the tomatoes were sooo juicy and sweet that it turned out fantastic anyway. I was going to eat it with my noodles, but I have already eaten half of it before the noodles are finished. From now on I will be making this whenever I have tomatoes. Thank you!!!!
Hi, thanks for the lovely feedback. I just add a small pinch of salt and sugar. The sweet and sour juice from tomato can make the dish outstanding. I am glad that you love it. Happy cooking!
Hallo Elaine,
today I tried this dish. I like it very, very much. I added some chill and paprika to it and at the end sesame oil. Thank you so much for the recipe. I would like to do aubergine sichuan style. Do you have any recipe?
Best regards
Ewa
Thanks Ewa for the lovely feedback. Adding sesame oil is a great idea. For the Sichuan style aubergine, click this link: https://chinasichuanfood.com/yu-xiang-qie-zi-sichuan-eggplant/.
I made this for breakfast this morning and it was superb. This will become one of my go recipes for quick meals. I ate it by itself and loved it. Thanks for sharing this simple but brilliant dish.
Thanks for such a loving comment, Lindsay. I am so glad you like it. We have been enjoying this for years.
How to make it juicy?
Firstly, you need to choice mature enough tomato with some juicy. Then slightly press the tomatoes during stir frying.
Hi Elaine, been wanting to cook this dish for a long time, was excited when I came across your site last night.
Made this for tonight’s dinner and sed 4 eggs since the 3 of us love eggs. I only had 1 tomato which didn’t yield much juice no matter how much I pressed the wedges so I added some ketchup. The dish was very tasty and polished off in no time!
Many thanks for sharing the recipe and the tips.
Wow. So simple. I guess this is dinner covered for tonight then 🙂
This is really good! I added a little oyster sauce and it gave the eggs a richer flavor.
Oyster sauce is a brilliant addition.
Hi Elaine. Lunch time here in New Zealand just made your egg and tomato stir-fry for my lunch have to say this will be a regular lunch from now on. 🙋Peter
Thanks Peter for your wonderful feedback. Happy cooking!
This looks so good! Stupid question but do you heat oil up again before adding tomato? Thanks!
Sure, Annie. Heat the oil firstly.
This looks really good, will try it tonight! I have been looking for some yummy easy recipes with no meat. Thanks for sharing! =)
Hi Theary,
I would love to use the words of comment of another reader. The key of all the marinating process is to softly massage each piece of meat with your fingers to make sure it is evenly covered by the marinade and they don’t stick together. You’ll have to use your fingers as you won’t achieve this by just stirring with a spoon, fork or chopsticks. That’s why I used the term grasping.
Hi Elaine
I love this dish sooooooo much . And I even added lanzenby ( Worcestershire sauce) after serving to taste. Works perfectly too .
I can image the delight of having Worcestershire sauce with sweet and sour tomato juices. Thanks for the feedback and happy cooking!
Hello PElaine. Looks great,I have one ? Do you not use the core off the tomatoe? It seems like you just use the outside of the fruit . Than,is leland
Leland,
I do cut the core of the tomatoes off.
Dear Elaine,
When I was in Sichuan, I really liked to eat this dish (I think it’s called 番茄炒蛋?), however, I found this dish in most restaurants were quite plain. But when I visited the 回族 restaurants, they would make this dish really delicious. I think they would add different spices to it, and have a different way of cooking it. Do you happen to know the recipe for this type of 番茄炒蛋?
Thank you
Hi Yuze,
I am so sorry that I am not familiar with the Hui restaurant’s version. In most cases, this tomato and egg stir fry is quite yummy.
This recipe really reminded me of my childhood. When I always go to China, my mother’s mom will always cook it. One day I asked my grandmother to cook it but it was always wrong and since my other grandmother is getting older, the taste is very different. So now I can make it myself that will taste just right. So thank you!!!
I loved this very much when I was in childhood. It is quite simple and easy to cook as long as the tomato is mature enough. Happy cooking.