Tomato with egg

This dish is the very first dish my mom taught me to cook. I think it was in the early years of elementary school - I learned while standing on a step stool so that I could see over the counter and reach the stove. At 5' 1/2" (don't you dare forget that 1/2 inch!), I still have a step stool in the kitchen that I use more often than I'd like to admit.

Anyway, eggs and tomatoes. Really? Growing up, I thought this dish was something my mom made up. First of all, it was a combo that I had never heard of and seemed weird to me. On top of that, besides the occasional spaghetti, my mom didn't cook any non-Chinese dishes - and this certainly didn't look "Chinese" to me. Where's the soy? Yes, we ate it over rice, but that doesn't make it Chinese. But I have since learned that it is a Chinese dish. I've seen other Chinese moms make it and have even seen it on a restaurant menu once or twice! Who knew?

The theme ingredient for this month's Weekend Wokking happens to be tomato, so I'm going to submit this recipe to Blazing Hot Wok who's doing the roundup. If you haven't checked it out yet, it's a fun event created by Wandering Chopsticks and the roundup will be posted the first Wednesday of the month.

I'll also have a lot more tomato recipes coming soon since my tomatoes have been ripening (yay). Unfortunately, I'm a little behind, so it might be a while before I get to writing up the posts. But I hope you enjoy this one for now!

Ingredients:
- 1 tomato

- 4 eggs

- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)

Method:
- Slice the tomato into thin wedges. I try to get at least 12 wedges out of a single tomato. You can even cut some wedges in half if you'd like. The reason I like the tomatoes in thin and smaller pieces is that it cooks faster and the more pieces you have, the more likely you'll get a bite of tomato along with that bite of egg.

- Beat the eggs in a bowl. Set aside. (You can add the salt here if you'd like, or with the tomatoes in the next step, or do half/half)

- Heat up your pan and add a bit of oil. Put the tomatoes in and if you'd like, the salt (see the previous step for details). If you have one, put the lid on the pan to help the tomatoes cook and soften. If you feel like it needs it, add a teaspoon or two of water to keep it from burning and to help it steam. The tomatoes will release liquid on it's own, so this may not be necessary, it's up to you.

- Once the tomatoes are soft and more or less mushy, add the eggs in and scramble everything together. I know some people who like to add shrimp or a few pieces of thinly sliced chicken or pork, but I like it best without any of that. If you'd like to add those things though, I'd toss them in before the eggs and then add the eggs after the meat is cooked through.

- Serve over a bowl of fluffy white rice and call my mom to tell her how good it was. Actually, skip that step and call me instead =)