Dec 4, 2007

Scrambled Eggs with Tomato - Every Taiwanese Should Know This Dish

This is probably the most common dish that you can see in every families in Taiwan,
Even here in California,
Every time I go to a Chinese restaurants (especially the ones owned by Taiwanese),
Where they have pre-made dishes laying out on the counter,
I can spot scrambled eggs with tomato 90% of the time.
It's a dish full of my childhood memories dining with my parents at home.

Scrambled Eggs with Tomato-


Ingredients?

4 large eggs (beaten)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
3 Roman tomatoes (peeled, sliced)
Sugar
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil

How?

Let's prepare the tomatoes first,
People usually use the big round tomatoes instead of Roman tomatoes,
It's just me,
I think Roman tomatoes are sweeter than the big ones,
If you like it a little bit sourish,
Use the big ones.

So let's make a cross-shaped cut on the bottom of the tomatoes,
Prepare a pot of boiling water then toss in the tomatoes,
One or two minutes should be enough,
Take the tomatoes out and put them in a bowl with ice water.
This step is for peeling the tomato skin,
Again,
Some people like to have this dish with tomato skin, not me though, I like it "smooth."

Done with the preparation part, it's time to cook.
Drizzle some olive oil in the pan and wait till it gets hot.
Beat the eggs and toss them in,
Slightly scramble it till 70% cooked then transfer to a plate, set it aside.
*Don't leave the eggs in the pan till fully cooked. We want smooth eggs, not the hard ones)

Drizzle more olive oil in the pan, toss in the peeled tomatoes,
Be careful, the oil might splash out because of the liquid in the tomato.
Toss in the minced garlic along with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt,
Cook for about 2 minutes, or till the tomatoes start to reduce its size for a little bit.
Put the eggs back into the pan,
Give it a quick stir and this all time Taiwanese favorite dish is done!

Garnish with parsley is desired.

Cindy's Rating: 7

15 comments:

  1. I always get this dish at the take out places - its my comfort food. Love it with just rice and a dash of Maggi sauce.

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  2. To Steamy Kitchen~
    Yeah it's so simple and tastes so good!
    I always order that at the take out place too!

    To Patricia Scarpin~
    Haha thank you,
    By the way,
    Your salad with tomatoes, basil, and goat cheese looks yummy!

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  3. I was watching a Taiwanese cooking show here in Taiwan, and yes...that's how the chefs do it too! Smooth silky eggs, almost like those (smooth eggs) "Wat Dan" (like in Hong Kong).

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  4. To Tigerfish~
    I miss the cooking shows in Taiwan...
    Which one were you watching?

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  5. Hey! We both have scramble eggs on our latest post. Can we swap?
    Looks delicious!

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  6. To Zen Chef~

    Ohhhh let's swap!
    Your truffle and the egg looks yummylicious!

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  7. I like watching the one at SET TV.
    "Xing Nan Da Zhu Chu" - I believe it's a popular cooking show here. Oh my, the Taiwanese must be liking food a lot. There are so many variety shows related to food here. :D
    At least that will keep me happy for a while.

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  8. To Tigerfish~
    Ha yeah,
    I heard a lot about that show but never watched it.
    I remember when I was in Taiwan, I always watch those Japanese cooking competition shows, sooo good!

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  9. Ahh memories. I lived in Taiwan for two and a half years and loved every minute of it. Although I don't like scrambled eggs I did eat this dish and I also liked the scrambled eggs with the little fish. Lately I've been really craving some Taiwanese food and I've been looking for recipes for the past two days. I'm sure my Taiwanese boyfriend loves that I want to make all these yummy dishes that I remember when living there.

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  10. Hi Cindy, really like the food photo and wanted to use it on an Olympic story i just posted. It's about people in Beijing likening the Chinese Olympic opening ceremony uniforms to scrambled eggs with tomatoes. Let me know if this is OK with you? Thanks Ray

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  11. To Ray~
    Hey thanks!
    Go ahead and use it as long as you provide the source (like where did you get the picture, even a small name will do),
    Keep me posted about the Olympic thing!

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  12. I would just reverse the procedure: cook the tomatoes first and set aside, then cook eggs and wait till they are 70% cooked and add tomatoes. A nonstick wok works great.

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  13. To Anonymous~
    Thank you so much for the suggestion, my mom actually cook it that way sometimes. I'll give it a try next time too!

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