Chinese · Quick Meals

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.

18 min total Serves 2 servings Easy
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Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry

Photograph credit: Free tomato, mushroom eggs dish · CC0 1.0 · Rawpixel

Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry, in preparation
Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry, in preparation

Photograph credit: A rich and creamy chicken curry (chicken maharaja) topped with boiled eggs, fresh… by Bigul Malayi · CC0 1.0 · Wordpress

How to Make Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry

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  1. Beat the eggs with half the salt, the white pepper and 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil until completely uniform.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Add the last oil, then the spring onion whites and garlic for 20 seconds.

  5. Add the tomatoes and the remaining salt and cook 3 to 4 minutes, pressing gently, until they slump and release their juice.

  6. Add the sugar, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and water and simmer 2 minutes until you have a light, loose sauce.

  7. 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.

548Calories
24gProtein
19gCarbs
41gFat
4gFibre
13gSugar
1560mgSodium

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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 .