Stir-fried tomato and scrambled eggs () is a common dish in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. It is usually served as a main course. Because of the simplicity of preparation, it is popular in student canteens and is often paired with steamed rice.
Shakshouka
Shakshouka is a Maghrebi dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion, and garlic, commonly spiced with cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Shakshouka is a popular dish throughout North Africa and the Middle East.
...
(Arabic: شكشوكة) is a very similar dish eaten in the
Levant
The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
of the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. The dish is also considered a main dish in various parts in the
Arab world
The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...
.
A similar dish in the Philippines is ''ginisang kamatis at itlog'', is eaten usually during breakfast, and paired with garlic
fried rice
Fried rice is a dish of cooked rice that has been stir-fried in a wok or a frying pan and is usually mixed with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, seafood, or meat. It is often eaten by itself or as an accompaniment to another dis ...
, or sandwiched between sliced
pandesal
Pandesal, also written as pan de sal (, lit. "salt bread"), is a staple bread roll in the Philippines commonly eaten for breakfast. It is made of flour, yeast, sugar, oil, and salt.
Description
''Pandesal'' is a popular yeast-raised bread in th ...
.
History
Scrambled eggs have been eaten in China for thousands of years, but cooking them with tomatoes is a result of mixing Chinese and Western cuisine. Western restaurants using tomatoes in their cuisine began to appear in China during the late
Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
and early
Republican era
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, influencing Chinese to experiment with tomatoes in cooking. This was particularly prominent around Shanghai, which was the most cosmopolitan Chinese city at the time. In the 1920s and 1930s, stir-fried tomato and scrambled eggs was sold at restaurants. It was around the 1940s that records of the home-cooked style stir-fried tomato and scrambled egg dish emerged.
Preparation
The eggs are scrambled, and the tomatoes are sliced into wedges. In Francis Lam's recipe published in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', the eggs are first cooked, then set aside as the tomatoes are cooked. Finally, the eggs are added back to the heat with the tomatoes, and they are stirred together until combined and fully cooked.
Alternatively, as in
J. Kenji López-Alt
James Kenji López-Alt (born October 31, 1979) is an American chef and food writer. His first book, '' The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science'', became a critical and commercial success, charting on the ''New York Times'' Bestselle ...
's version of the dish, the tomatoes are stir fried first for approximately two minutes and salted.
The eggs are added to the heat next, and the dish is cooked until done to taste.
Some versions of the dish include
ketchup
Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and sour flavor. "Ketchup" now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes for different varieties contained mushrooms, oysters, mussels, egg whites, grapes, or walnuts, amon ...
.
See also
*
List of egg dishes
This is a list of notable egg dishes and beverages. Egg as food, Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including bird egg, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have been eaten by humans for thousands of years.Kenneth F. Kiple, ...
*
List of tomato dishes
This list includes dishes in which the main ingredient or one of the essential ingredients is tomato. Dishes prepared with tomato sauces as a primary ingredient are not included in this list.
Tomato dishes
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Omelette
An omelette (sometimes omelet in American English; see spelling differences) is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs), fried with butter or oil in a frying pan. It is a common practice for an omelette to include fillings such as chiv ...
References
Further reading
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External links
*
* (recipe)
{{Tomatoes
Chinese egg dishes
Tomato dishes
Food combinations