Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry
The dish every Chinese household cooks and no restaurant bothers to: eggs scrambled soft, tomatoes cooked down to a light sauce, the two folded together over rice. Ten minutes, four ingredients, endlessly comforting.
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How to Make Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry
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Beat the eggs with half the salt, the white pepper and 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil until completely uniform.
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Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok over high heat until it shimmers. Pour in the eggs and let them puff at the edges for 15 seconds.
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Push the set edges into the centre with a spatula, letting the raw egg run underneath. Stop while they are still glossy and slightly underdone, about 45 seconds total, and tip them out.
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Add the last oil, then the spring onion whites and garlic for 20 seconds.
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Add the tomatoes and the remaining salt and cook 3 to 4 minutes, pressing gently, until they slump and release their juice.
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Add the sugar, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and water and simmer 2 minutes until you have a light, loose sauce.
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Fold the eggs back in, breaking them into large pieces, and warm through for 30 seconds. Finish with the spring onion greens and remaining sesame oil and serve over rice.
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Notes for Getting It Right
- Ripe tomatoes make this dish; pale winter ones will not release enough juice to form a sauce. Add a tablespoon of tomato purée if that is all you have.
- Undercook the eggs deliberately. They finish in the residual heat and stay custardy.
- A splash of ketchup is a common shortcut in Chinese homes and is not cheating.
Ingredient Swaps
- Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
What to Serve with Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry
- Plain steamed rice, which is the point
- A clear soup alongside
- Nothing else — this is a weeknight dish
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Stir-Fried Water Spinach, Vegan Fried Rice.
Storing & Reheating Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry
Refrigerate up to 2 days. It reheats acceptably in a pan but the eggs firm up; it is really a cook-and-eat dish.
Nutrition per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. The calories include 1 g of alcohol a serving, which is not part of the protein, carbohydrate or fat. How the figures are worked out.
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .