Chinese Egg & Tomato Stir-Fry

Make this extremely tasty Chinese dish in 10 minutes. And it’s gluten free!

When you think of meals you can make in 10 minutes, what do you think of? A tossed salad? A sandwich?

Well, save the salad and sandwich for another time, because here’s a hot meal full of flavor and nutrition that you can make in 10 minutes. It’s well-known to home cooks in China—I’d call it a Chinese comfort food. My wife Lia grew up eating it, so I like to make it for her sometimes—no modifications are needed to make it gluten free!

All of the ingredients are available in any supermarket—except for one—and I think that ingredient can be optional or substituted with something easier to find.

The ingredients are oil, eggs, fresh tomatoes, scallions, sesame oil, sugar, salt, white pepper and—here’s the one that might require some searching—Shaoxing wine, which is a Chinese liquor made from rice. (It is typically called Shaoxing “wine”, but this is stronger than most wine you’ve tasted, usually measuring around 20% alcohol or more. Drinking it straight will knock your socks off—trust me, as I’ve joined in many a toast to the Lunar New Year with shots of Shaoxing jiou).

If you do a lot of Chinese cooking at home, you may already have a bottle of high-quality Shoaxing wine handy, but if you don’t, I’m not sure it’s worth a visit to a Chinese market to buy one (not to mention that it will take up cabinet space), as this recipe requires only a splash. Also, if you do find a bottle, it may be labeled as “Chinese cooking wine” or something similar and may be of low quality (with added salt or other things that shouldn’t be in wine), so read the label. Substitutes that are often mentioned for Shaoxing wine are Japanese mirin or dry sherry, but I have often used Japanese sake or a spoonful of Bourbon instead (remember, the alcohol evaporates when cooking). If you prefer, you can leave the alcohol out altogether, as the final dish will still taste good (I’ve done this a number of times when I didn’t have a good substitute on hand).

Here's something else I do a little differently: I don’t use a wok. I’ve been cooking on an induction cooktop for years, and woks aren’t made for a flat surface. I have a number of other pots and pans that do work very well for this, including an enameled cast-iron pot with a rounded bottom that is great for stir-frying. So, if you don’t have a wok, do not fear, you can still cook good Chinese food. Try using your favorite sauté pan or cast iron skillet. I’ll note that Lia’s stepfather, Mr. Yin, is a top-notch cook with a vast repertoire of recipes and was once a professional cook in China, and I’ve never seen him use a wok.

Many recipes I’ve seen for egg and tomato stir-fry call for adding water when you cook the tomatoes, but I’ve eliminated that step. Fresh tomatoes contain plenty of liquid to cook properly, and adding water just adds time to the cooking, as you have to wait for the excess liquid to evaporate.

The usual accompaniment to egg & tomato stir fry is plain cooked rice, although sometimes when I make this, it’s a spur of the moment decision, and I serve it on its own, or with toast. But if you want rice, remember that will take longer to cook than this dish, so get the rice started first, then prepare the eggs and tomatoes when the rice is nearly ready.

The recipe below is for 4 eggs, which would be a good amount for 1 person, but in the photos here, I used 8 eggs—this recipe is scalable to feed as many people as you want.

Ingredients: Tomato, scallions, salt, white pepper, and sesame oil. Shaoxing wine isn’t shown, as I used a spoonful of Bourbon instead!

Ingredients (per 1 serving):

• 3 tablespoons of neutral-flavored oil, such as sunflower oil (this will be divided between 2 separate steps)

• 4 eggs

• ½ teaspoon sesame oil (I love the taste of sesame oil, so when I pour it in, it’s probably closer to 1 teaspoon)

• 1 teaspoon Shaoxing liquor or Bourbon (can be omitted)

• ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt (this will be divided between 2 different steps)

• About ½ pound fresh tomatoes, sliced into thin wedges (the tomato I used in the photos was really large, so I halved the wedges)

• 1 tablespoon chopped scallions (both white and green part)

• 1 teaspoon sugar

Directions:

• Heat a pan (or wok, if you have one) on moderately high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the oil

• While the pan is heating, slice your tomato into wedges and chop the scallion

• In a bowl, combine the eggs, sesame oil, white pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and use a fork to beat them until thoroughly blended

• Make sure the pan is hot, then add the egg mixture to the pan and use a spatula to scramble the eggs until they are cooked through, then scoop the eggs back into their bowl (this will go very quickly if your pan is hot enough)

• Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan, then add the tomato wedges, chopped scallion, sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt to the pan and stir

• Cover the pan for about 2 minutes to soften the tomatoes

• Uncover, check that the tomatoes have softened to your liking, then add the scrambled eggs and stir for about a minute to combine the ingredients and make sure everything is hot

• If there is still liquid in the pan from the tomatoes, you can continue to cook to your desired consistency

• Serve in a bowl with rice, if desired

• That’s about 10 minutes!

Cook the scrambled eggs first, remove them and cook the tomatoes, then stir them together.