Stir-Fried Egg and Tomato (番茄炒蛋)

This is an incredibly easy dish to make, and I suspect a weapon in many a harassed Chinese parent's armoury. Its sweet flavour and soft texture goes down well with children, takes literally about 10 minutes to cook and maybe 5 to prepare. When the toddler has decided that he will complete a couple of laps of the kitchen between every mouthful of food, this is the sort of dish to be cooking. At least when you have both given up after 5 mouthfuls, you won't be weeping at the wasted expense and effort.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 3 large tomatoes, washed and diced
• 2 spring onions, white and green parts cut into 5mm lengths
• (Optional) 1/2 tsp chicken powder
• 2-3 large squirts of tomato ketchup
• Sunflower oil for frying
• Salt and pepper to season
• Few drops sesame oil

Serves 3-4

Instructions

• Break the eggs into a bowl and beat lightly with 1/2 tsp chicken powder and 1 tsp sunflower oil. If not using chicken powder, sprinkle some ground white pepper into the egg mixture
• Heat the wok until very hot and add 2 tbsp sunflower oil. Swirl the oil around the wok and add the chopped spring onions. Stir-fry quickly for 10 seconds - don't let the spring onions burn
• Pour the beaten egg into the wok and lift and fold with a spatula, allowing the uncooked egg to drain to the bottom of the wok
• When the egg has solidified, add the chopped tomatoes and 2-3 large squirts of tomato ketchup to the wok. Mix well to combine, turn the heat down to moderate, cover and leave for roughly 5-10 minutes, until the tomato has softened and released its water to form a sauce. If necessary, add 10-20ml water to the wok to loosen the sauce. Lift the mixture from the bottom every few minutes with a spatula, to ensure that the egg does not stick to the bottom of the wok
• Remove from the heat, add a few drops of sesame oil, and season with salt and pepper if required. Serve immediately with boiled rice

Stir-Fried Egg and Tomato (番茄炒蛋)