Recipe

Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry

Soft scrambled eggs folded into juicy tomatoes with salt and a little sugar: the Chinese weeknight plate meant for rice.

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 10 min
Serves: 2 as a main with rice, or 3–4 as one shared dish
Difficulty: easy

A classic Chinese home method compiled from common household versions of 番茄炒蛋. Have everything cut and measured before the pan goes on; the cook is short. Ripe tomatoes need less sugar; pale winter ones may need the full 2 teaspoons or a spoon of ketchup.

番茄炒蛋 (also 西红柿炒鸡蛋) is the plate many Chinese households reach for when the fridge is almost empty and dinner still has to feel like dinner. Soft scrambled eggs and tomatoes cooked until they give up a sweet-tart juice, seasoned with salt and a little sugar, then spooned over rice. It is not an ancient imperial recipe. Tomatoes arrived in China centuries ago and only became everyday cooking food in the twentieth century. The stir-fry itself settled into home kitchens around the mid-1900s. That late start did not slow it down. It is still the dish people cook the week they leave home.

The method that keeps the eggs tender is simple: scramble them hot and fast until they are just set, pull them out, cook the tomatoes on their own until saucy, then fold the eggs back in for a few seconds. Leave the eggs in the pan the whole time and they turn dry while you wait for the tomatoes to soften.

Ingredients

4 large eggs
3–4 medium ripe tomatoes (about 1 lb / 450–500 g)
2 scallions
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced (optional)
3 Tbsp neutral oil (canola, vegetable, or peanut), divided
¾ tsp fine salt, divided, plus more to taste (see notes if you cook with Diamond Crystal kosher)
2 tsp sugar, divided (start with 1 tsp if the tomatoes are very ripe and sweet)
¼ cup (60 ml) water, plus a splash more if the pan runs dry
¼ tsp ground white pepper (optional)
½ tsp toasted sesame oil (optional, for the eggs)
1 tsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry (optional, for the eggs)
1 Tbsp water, optional, beaten into the eggs for slightly fluffier curds
Optional: 1 Tbsp ketchup (helpful with pale, out-of-season tomatoes)
Optional: 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbsp cold water, for a thicker sauce
Steamed rice, to serve

Method

1Core the tomatoes and cut them into wedges or large chunks, about ¾-inch pieces. Keep the seeds and juice. Thinly slice the scallions, saving some green for the finish. Slice the garlic if using. Beat the cornstarch slurry now if you plan to use it. Rice should already be cooking or hot.
2Crack the eggs into a bowl. Add ¼ teaspoon of the salt, the optional 1 tablespoon water, and the white pepper, sesame oil, and Shaoxing wine or sherry if using. Beat until the mixture looks even, with no long streaks of white.
3Heat a large skillet over medium-high, or a carbon-steel wok over medium-high until a drop of water skitters (for a wok, heat it empty until a faint wisp of smoke, then add oil). Add 2 tablespoons of the oil. When the oil is hot and fluid, pour in the eggs. Scramble gently, pulling large soft curds, for about 30–60 seconds until the eggs are mostly set but still glossy and a little underdone. Tip them onto a plate. Do not cook them dry.
4Return the pan to high heat. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. If using garlic, stir it for about 10 seconds until fragrant, not brown. Add the tomatoes and most of the scallion. Stir-fry 1–2 minutes until the edges soften and juice starts to collect.
5Add the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon of the sugar, the ¼ cup water, and the ketchup if using. Cook 2–4 minutes more, stirring often, until the tomatoes are tender and you have a loose, spoonable sauce that can wet rice. If the pan looks dry before the tomatoes soften, add another splash of water. Taste. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar if the sauce tastes sharp, and more salt if needed. If you want a thicker gravy, stir in the cornstarch slurry and cook a few seconds until glossy.
6Return the eggs to the pan. Break large curds into bite-size pieces and fold them through the tomatoes for 15–30 seconds, just until the eggs finish cooking in the sauce. Scatter the remaining scallion. Serve immediately over hot rice. If you used a carbon-steel wok, plate the dish right away; leaving hot tomato sauce in the wok can dull the seasoning.

Notes

Useful details

Salt amounts assume fine salt or table salt. Diamond Crystal kosher is fluffier: use about 1½ teaspoons total, still divided (½ teaspoon in the eggs, 1 teaspoon with the tomatoes), then taste. Morton kosher is closer to fine salt; start with the printed amounts.
Sugar rounds tomato acid. It should not taste like dessert. Very ripe summer tomatoes often need only 1 teaspoon; tart or pale ones usually want the full 2 teaspoons. If you add ketchup, taste before you add the second teaspoon of sugar.
Roma or other meaty tomatoes hold shape; juicy salad tomatoes make more sauce. Either works. Cherry tomatoes are a poor fit (too much skin).
A nonstick skillet is fine and often easier than a wok here. Keep the oil amount; dry, rubbery eggs are the usual failure.
Some cooks stir-fry the tomatoes first, then pour beaten eggs into the same pan. That works too. This recipe pulls the eggs early because it is easier to keep them soft.
Leftovers keep a day in the fridge; reheat gently. The dish is best the minute it leaves the pan.