Chinese egg and tomato

Chinese egg and tomato served with sticky rice

Simple, quick and delicious, this is my go-to dish if I don't know what to have for dinner. The dish has two main ingredients- egg and tomato. The cooked tomatoes and soft scrambled eggs makes a really saucy and satisfying dish which tastes amazing served with sticky rice. 

I first discovered this dish when myself and three girl-friends were travelling to Hainan, an island off the south coast of China, from Shanghai for Autumn festival. We had not long been in China and we thought it would be nice to get some sun before the Shanghai winter set in. We (somehow) managed to book a last minute train and decided a 40 hour train journey (one way!) on a HARD SEAT was a small price to pay for a tropical beach holiday in the 'Hawaii of Asia'. Around 28 hours in we were sleep deprived, achey, dirty and a little bit delusional, so we decided to take a walk to find the 'restaurant carriage'. We found it, but the staff would not let us in, we weren't sure what they were saying so we plonked ourselves down at a table regardless. In the end they stopped arguing with us and gave us a plate of egg and tomato to share and a bowl of sticky rice each. 

I later found out this dish is called 'xihongshi chao jidan' and is a staple in China, usually served as a breakfast dish (although you can order it anytime). Oh and I also found out the train's 'restaurant carriage' was only for staff. Oops. 

This story wouldn't be complete without also telling you that after 32 hours of our train journey, the train stopped and passengers were told to get off due to a typhoon hitting the south coast of China. With no trains continuing to Hainan we instead spent the next week exploring Nanning province in wet and windy weather (with little more than a few summer maxi dresses to wear). 

Serves 2 

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs (2 per person) 
• 3 large tomatoes 
• 1 spring onion (optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons tomato ketchup (optional)
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil

Method:

1. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat.

2. Chop the tomatoes into 0.5- 1cm thick wedges.

3. Finely chop up the spring onion.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pan and pour in the eggs.

3. Scramble the eggs over medium heat just until all the runny egg is cooked.

4. Remove the eggs from the pan, place in a bowl and set aside.

5. Add another 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan.

5. Next place the half of the chopped spring onion and all of the tomatoes in the pan.

6. Add the salt, sugar and ketchup and stir. 

7. Place a lid over the pan and cook for around 2 minutes. 

8. Remove the lid and add the eggs.

9. Mix the scrambled eggs evenly into the tomato sauce.

10. Turn off the heat, serve on a plate, garnish with the rest of the spring onion and enjoy :)