The basics: Tomatoes and eggs 番茄炒鸡蛋

[Angelina]

Why would Chinese people avoid eating raw vegetables? Whatever the reason is, it must be the same reason why they also only drink 开水. 

[889]

Traditionally, vegetable fields in China are fertilised with night soil.

 

Organic farming and all that.

[grawrt]

9 hours ago, abcdefg said:

This caused great consternation and looks of puzzled disapproval. I thought at the time it was mainly because it was taking an unwelcome liberty with the classic Chinese 凉拌 dish. But I came to learn that it was also at least in part because eating raw tomatoes is just too uncivilized, just too savage.

 

When I studied in Harbin I was once given sliced up raw peeled tomatoes dipped in sugar (blergh). I wonder if raw tomatoes is more acceptable to eat in the North? 

 

btw your tomatoes look great. I don't find tomatoes that tasty here, less juicy, more sour than anything but I find not refrigerating them helps soften and give them time to develop flavor.

[abcdefg]

@grawrt -- I usually put my tomatoes in a loosely-woven, round-bottom, wicker basket and set them out on a window ledge for several days before using them. Agree that lets them ripen and develop more flavor. Like you, I don't keep them in the refrigerator. Really does make a difference.

 

 

In the market I look for tomatoes that are sold in small batches, usually ones which are grown by some relative of the person who is selling them as a "pocket money" side venture, almost a hobby. For example, the strawberry seller might have a dozen tomatoes displayed, but it's clear they are not his or her main source of revenue. Sometimes I learn that they were lovingly grown by one of the seller's school-age children. 

 

These tomatoes are usually not as big and perfectly formed as the mass-market ones; they may have a few bird beak pecks, scars and blemishes. They are also sometimes marked 露天, which means they are grown in open air. I cannot always find them, but when I do, I snap them up. I'm willing to pay a little extra for them, maybe 7 or 8 Yuan per shijin 市斤 (500 grams) instead of 5 or 6 Yuan. 

 

Most mass market tomatoes here (at least in this part of China) are grown in huge plastic tents 塑料大棚 that have rounded walls like Quonset huts. There are miles and miles of huge fields with these southeast of Kunming (towards Yuxi.) One can barely see any actual soil, only grayish and shiny plastic. The farmers progressively roll up the sides towards the middle of the day and roll them down at night.

 

 

Inside the tents, all vines are trellised and irrigation is either by means of a drip system or sprinkler, often controlled by sophisticated timers. Pest control spraying and fertilization are carried out very scientifically, in such a way as to maximize yield.

 

In order to have the tomatoes look pretty on the supermarket shelf, they are picked while still mostly green. They are easier to transport that way, with less spoilage, than if picked when ripe.

 

None are as delicious as the ones I used to grow in my own garden back in Texas and pick the same day I was planning to eat them.

 

 

[lips]

This is a basic dish that we eat every week or couple of weeks.  Since it's a quick dish for us, we only make the basic version with only tomato and egg.  It's so basic that you can hardly get it wrong.  On the other hand, it's hard to get it "very right" (outstanding) either.  We used too put in a little bit of sugar, just enough to take away the sour taste of the tomato but not enough to make it sweet.  Now we just skip the sugar altogether and enjoy the natural flavour of the tomato.

 

Some people add milk instead of / in addition to water to the egg to make it "smoother".  Some add a little bit of oil too.

 

BTW we're eating it again tonight!

[chenyswhite]

 

I don't realize that many people like this dish, but really good to eat..

[abcdefg]

It's very popular in China. Where do you live?

[Alex_Hart]

My first time eating it was in a Chengdu restaurant on the side of the road and I distinctly remember thinking it was the weirdest Chinese dish ever - hot tomatoes？ Over rice? WITH EGGS? The duck blood in the hot pot made more sense to me.

 

Fast forward three or four years and it's a dish I eat every week, over rice or over noodles or in a soup - thanks for sharing how to make it, abcd.

[zander1]

3 hours ago, Alex_Hart said:

The duck blood in the hot pot made more sense to me

 

This always been a favorite of mine

[Kamelion]

Very nice that this humble dish receives some appreciation. Long before I knew anything about Chinese food, I used to cook this as a savoury breakfast, using this recipe as my guideline, since the author, Lisa Förare Winbladh, is a woman I generally highly trust she writes with beauty and insight; she is an expert at matching aromas and tastes, and she was covering a lot of the science in gastronomy long before it became famous. Probably partially because the language is Swedish …


When I have som time, I will cook it and post about my process, but in the meantime, here is the  recipe, which may seem a bit overly detailed, but so intended, so that you can later go with your feeling. Interestingly, she adds some condiments I have not seen much about in this thread so far. Only comment from my side is that 15 min cooking of the tomatoes is a bit long. However, it might have to do with the Swedish winter tomatoes, and in any case, they get very sweet and intense from this prolonged simmering. 

 

This is a creamy version of the dish. Sometimes I fry the eggs harder, not stirring som much, and get a flakier texture. Also very nice.

 

I also got here an opportunity to worthily inaugurate my new knife, especially interesting, since @abcdefg just recently acquired the exact same cai dao. I must say, it performed beautifully!

 

Here it is, how I have made the dish until now and Lisa’s exact recipe—roughly translated by me—for all you non-Swedish speakers:


Serves: 4
Time: 25 minutes



•  500 g tomatoes
•  6 cm ginger
•  3 cloves garlic
•  1 tsk salt
•  1 tbsp brown sugar
•  3 spring onions
•  1 small red thai chili, ca 5 cm
•  6 eggs
•  2 tsp dark sesame oil
•  ground-nut oil for frying
•  garlic chives 韭菜 (optional)

 

    

My garlic chives, Allium tuberosum, and the rest of the ingredients. 

 

 

1.    Cut the tomatoes roughly. Finely chop the ginger and two cloves garlic.

 

 

    

2.    Fry ginger and garlic in oil, ca 20 seconds. Add tomatoes, half of the salt and a good pinch of sugar, fry another 15 minutes.

 

    

3.    In the meantime, whisk the eggs, sesame oil and the rest of the sugar (and a dollop of cream, if you are in the mood). The fat, sugar and salt makes the eggs creamier and protects it from over-cooking.

 

4.    Finely chop the remaining ginger, garlic, chili and the whites of the spring onion.

 

    

5.    Heat up oil in another pan, fairly hot (or the same, having emptied it of the tomatoes). Fry the chopped things, ca 20 seconds. Turn down the heat. Take the pan off of the heat, add the eggs. Fry gently, stirring, until you have creamy scrambled eggs.


 

 

6.    Fold in the tomatoes. 


 

 

7.    Chop the green part of the spring onion, and the garlic chives if using, and add on top. 




 

 

 

[abcdefg]

That looks like a very flavorful variation! I've never tried using brown sugar instead of white when making eggs; and the same goes for using dark sesame oil instead of light. I like that you turn down the heat before adding the eggs and then fry them gently until done. Important to proceed like that so as not to make them tough.

[ChTTay]

Interesting thread about a basic dish. Both the above ways aren’t the way my friends or girlfriend make the dish. I asked them about adding garlic and other stuff. They thought I was mad. 

 

They essentially fry the beaten egg mixture (add a pinch of salt to it) in a fair amount of oil. It almost looks like an omelette.

Then flip that over and cook the other side. Cook as firm or runny as desired then hack it up with your spatula. 

Take this out of the pan and put on a plate/in a bowl etc

Add a little oil and fry the tomatoes. Add some water if necessary. Add salt. Some also add a pinch of those chicken stock power/granules. 

Add egg and mix together.

Eat. 

[abcdefg]

50 minutes ago, ChTTay said:

I asked them about adding garlic and other stuff. They thought I was mad. 

 

Haha, well said, ChTTay! You have discovered the soul of 家常菜 home style cooking. It can easily be made with just the simplest of ingredients and come out tasting very good. Or it can be "fancied up" a bit when one has time and inclination.