Recently, one of our commenters  (goes by Gardener) requested the Chinese recipe for Tomato Fried Eggs. I was giddy with excitement, not just because I got a recipe request, which I love, but because this isn’t the kind of dish you find at restaurants (though a few do offer it).  This is the most home-style of home-style dishes, quickly thrown together by moms (or some dads but not mine) when the family needs a quick meal. It’s also a very popular little kid meal because it’s soft, nutritious, and there’s a secret ingredient for the kid-version.

Tomato Fried Eggs

Because nearly every Chinese family eats this dish, it’s got as many versions. Some add scallions but my mom doesn’t. We like it more saucy, more tomato, less egg. Others like it drier, more egg and less tomato. Some stir it into rice while others spoon it over noodles. We’ve done both. I’ve posted the “adult” version but for the pre-schooler version, sprinkle some sugar on the tomatoes while they’re cooking.

When a dish is this simple with only two flavor components, those two components are going to make your dish. My mom grew up in Taiwan, where they raised chickens, which laid eggs, and they grew their own tomatoes. For as far back as I can remember, my mom has been complaining about the pale tomatoes here. If you use the under-ripe tomatoes that are so common in American supermarkets, this dish will suck. Really.

Luckily for me, I used the tomatoes and eggs that were just given to me by Holton Farms. The yolks were golden. The tomatoes were plump, red, and juicy. You can see the vibrant color in these pictures.  My mom couldn’t stop raving about how great the ingredients were, making this last minute meal feel like there was more care involved. There is, only with this dish, the credit goes to the farmers and not the chefs. Thanks Jurrien + the Holton Farms family!

Tomato Fried Eggs 3

Tomato Fried Eggs
~2 to 3 servings

  • 2 (.5 lb) beefsteak tomatoes
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 5 large eggs, beaten
  • fine sea salt to taste
  • freshly ground (white or black) pepper (optional)

Instructions –

1. Peel tomatoes (detailed instructions here). Chop tomatoes into roughly 1.5″ cubes. Set aside.

2. Heat vegetable oil in a wok on high heat. Add the egg and flip around lightly a few times until it is all cooked and looks like scrambled eggs.

frying eggs 3 frying eggs

3. Remove to a bowl and let it rest for 30 seconds. Some excess oil will drain to the bottom of the bowl. Put that (not the eggs) back in the wok.

4. Add tomatoes and let it come to a light boil, about 2 minutes. Add salt and stir.

tomatoes in wok 3 tomatoes in wok

5. Add eggs back in and stir. Serve immediately with rice or noodles. Offer pepper to be sprinkled on when eating.

Chinese Tomato Fried Eggs 5

posted by jessica at 08:10 AM Filed under Chinese, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.