I watched Food, Inc. when I was 12, which, for the record, is really too young to see a rancher extend his arm directly into a cow’s stomach. That night, I renounced meat. My parents marked this as a phase. They were right (I ate pork last night) but not for a while (I didn’t until I was 17). For five long years, my parents struggled to reinvent their method of showing love, formerly through shelled crab legs and spiced pork, braised overnight. My dad insisted that fish wasn’t really meat, anyway. But my mom took my stance in stride, and she dug through wen xue cheng (文学城简介, gen x Chinese social media) recipes for me. My childhood familiars — tofu dumplings, stir-fried tofu skin, tea eggs, and soy milk — were re-introduced.
Luckily, she didn’t need to modify my favorite dish. I recognized it by the sound of chopsticks beating against a porcelain bowl, turning the sisters of yolks and whites into one homogeneity of egg. Combined with the chop of a knife's edge against an old wooden cutting board and oil sizzling over a pan, I could be sure that she was making tomato and egg stir-fry (xi hong shi chao dan, 西红柿炒鸡蛋).
Once the pan agreed to high heat from the flames underneath, the tomatoes were first to face the oil. Flashed in for a moment, they’d be dumped out just as quickly. The heat denatured them, but they would take time to soften later. Leaving their juice in the pan nurtured flavor for the eggs, which swished around the pan. I always worried the nonstick wouldn’t hold, but it did. Tomatoes soared back in, followed by a dash of soy sauce, minced garlic, white pepper, salt, and a bit of water. My mom covered it, trapping the steam inside. I’d open the lid to catch the fragrance. When she caught me, she pretended she needed to give a quick stir anyway. Sesame oil came at the end. It has a low smoke point, and the aroma evaporates quickly if exposed to heat for too long.
Later, I’d make variations with YouTube tips and Chinese-American recipe blogs. Some pre-cooked the eggs, not the tomatoes. Others removed garlic in favor of Shaoxing wine and sugar. One video insisted on adding ketchup (not bad). I rejected most of these changes, but conceded the pleasant addition of a roughly chopped green onion and the switching of the cooking order.
When the sauce thickened and the tomatoes allowed chopsticks to leave a gentle indent, my mom poured the eggs and tomato into a wide, white dish. I spooned the sauce first. Tiny droplets of sesame oil hovered over the thin red stream and coated my rice. The eggs were easier to scoop up than tomatoes, which could slip off my spoon. Each bite still feels like home.
Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry
(serves 4)
Ingredients:
4 eggs
4 tomatoes
1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
Soy sauce, salt, white pepper
Sesame oil, 1 green onion (chopped), sesame seeds (to taste)
Method
Scramble the eggs and cut the tomato into ½ inch chunks.
Heat oil in a pan over high heat.
Add in the eggs and cook until half-scrambled, then take them out.
In the same pan, pour in the tomatoes. Sauté over low until softened. Cover (optional).
Add the half-scrambled eggs back in.
Add water, soy sauce, salt, and white pepper, and cover the pan. Cook until eggs are solid and sauce thickens.
Add sesame oil and remove from heat.
Plate, adding chopped green onion and sesame seeds.
:)
i simply cannot fathom the feelings that this makes me feel <3
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