Thursday, April 29, 2010

Mr. Zheng's Soupy Tomatoes and Eggs with Tofu (蕃茄雞蛋跟豆腐)



JS:
As we've noted before, it's only recently that we've fallen in love with stir-fried tomato and eggs, Chinese-style.

Apparently, it's a classic home-style Chinese dish, served all over China and Chinese households beyond. Since we never had this particular dish growing up, does that mean we're really not Chinese? ;)

Growing up, we've had the tomato-and-egg combination, but usually in the form of tomatoes and hard-boiled eggs, like in mangga ensalada. (See here and here.)



JS:
In this TOFU edition of Weekend Wokking, we reclaim our Chinese heritage with Mr. Zheng's Soupy Tomatoes and Eggs with Tofu 蕃茄雞蛋跟豆腐.

We're not actually related to Mr. Zheng: I saw this dish on EatingAsia and have been fantasizing about it ever since. Of course, I have also been fantasizing quite fervently about wandering down those food alleys that we didn't find or even know about when we went to Taiwan. Do read the EatingAsia post as it is quite amusing.

Doesn't the conversation sound familiar? Seems like it was only yesterday that TS -- albeit vicariously through AL -- had the same conversation. The conversation along the lines of "I already told you. . ."



Northern-style Tofu


TS:
JS picked up a couple of tubs of this "Northern Style Tofu" at our usual supermarket. Upon smelling/tasting it, it had more of a "soy milk" aroma and flavor than the usual tofu we buy. It was also a bit rougher in texture.

Does anybody know exactly what differentiates this Northern-style tofu from others? And in what applications it is used?

I thought it would work quite well in this dish.


Look at the bottom of the pile. There they are, the two blocks of tofu.

TS:
I weighed down the 2 blocks of Northern-style tofu for about 30 minutes or so before using. Finally, we're putting these cookbooks to good use! ;)


Just some of the chopped tomatoes we used.

TS:
As home-style dishes should be, this one was quite easy and fuss-free. Let's begin!



TS:
To begin, I dumped the majority of my chopped tomatoes into a pot over medium heat. I waited until they were "soupy", then carefully poured in beaten eggs to form a layer on top. I turned the heat to low and covered the pot.



TS:
When the egg had cooked, I added the chopped tofu and the rest of the chopped tomatoes. I carefully mixed everything together. All the seasoning that this needs is salt and sugar.



TS:
Well, I didn't seem to stir carefully enough, as the eggs broke up more than I would've liked. But, that is the beauty of this dish: it doesn't really matter. Do what you desire. Want it saltier? Add more salt. Want it sweeter? Add more sugar. I would add more eggs next time, I think.



JS:
What we ended up might be something that's between a soup and a stew but still all of delicious. Serve with white rice, add even more scallions (I love scallions) and dig in. You don't have to be a "real" Chinese to enjoy this dish: even us "fake" ones love it just fine.


Recipe
EatingAsia: About That Egg and Tomato Dish...
The dish really is simple to make. If you would like a recipe, do visit EatingAsia and read all about Mr. Zheng's dish.

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eatingclub vancouver Weekend Wokking posts:
Ravioli "Caprese": Tomato, Basil, Bocconcini
Eggplant "Clafouti"
Bibingka
Pumpkin Congee w/ Pumpkin "Beignets" & Sesame-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese w/ Pipián Verde
Adobo Mushroom Tart
Duck and Orange Crêpes with Orange-White Wine Sauce
Almond Eggplant "Bisteeya" (Bastilla)
"Mashed Potato Beef Burger" (Red-skinned Potato Salad in Taiwanese Sacha Cheeseburger)
Korean Soybean Sprouts Pancake (Kongnamul Jeon)
Lemon Chamomile Tiramisu
Cilantro Horchata
Strawberry Cilantro Salsa, on Grilled Flank Steak
Duck Enchiladas with Chipotle Peanut Salsa
Clear Oxtail Soup with Corn, Cabbage and Potatoes
Beijing Pickled Cabbage
Salsa Romesco ("Queen of the Catalan Sauces!")
Aguadito de Pollo (Peruvian Chicken Soup)
Bangus Belly à la Bistek (Milkfish Belly with Onions, Calamansi and Soy Sauce)
White Pork with Garlic Sauce, Two Ways (蒜泥白肉)
Mr. Zheng's Soupy Tomatoes and Eggs with Tofu (蕃茄雞蛋跟豆腐)
Steamed Fish and Tofu with Chinese Black Beans
Spinach and Cheese with Puff Pastry, Three Ways


We're submitting this recipe to Weekend Wokking, a world-wide food blogging event created by Wandering Chopsticks celebrating the multiple ways we can cook one ingredient.

The host this month is Sweatha of Tasty Curry Leaf.

If you would like to participate or to see the secret ingredient, check
who's hosting next month.

Check out
all Weekend Wokking Roundups.

Some eggy eatingclub dishes
Tarragon-Carrot Deviled Eggs
Golden Egg Torta
Hunanese Stir-fried Eggs with Green Peppers
Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish "Omelette")
Piedmont Marinated Eggs
Asparagus and Crab Egg Crêpes
Stir-fried Egg and Tomato
Oyster Torta
Torta with Pork and Kecap Manis
Curried (Easter) Egg Salad
Taiwanese Stewed Eggs (滷蛋) with Stewed Minced Pork (魯肉 or 肉燥)
Longsilog (Longganisa + Sinangag + Itlog)
Torta (Mexican Sandwich)
Mr. Zheng's Soupy Tomatoes and Eggs with Tofu
Nasi Lemak (Malaysian Coconut Rice Meal with Sambal)
Home-style Chinese Steamed Egg with Pork
Golden Shrimp Torta (Philippine Shrimp Omelette)

11 comments:

  1. Soup, stew, who cares what you call it so long as it's delicious! And I like what you did with those cookbooks...I guess that's what I should do with the ones I'll probably never use!

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  2. It's one of my favourite dishes. If mommy makes this, I just pour it over my rice and don't touch any other dishes. Om nom nom

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  3. Yep, Chinese-style tomato with eggs is such a comfort to eat at home.

    I recently made a dish which turned out in between a soup and a stew too (supposed to be a soup but..something happened)....

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  4. This is the first time I see this dish; I admire you for going through all this research to get it right; it looks yummy, I must say!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yummy. I like the natural sweetness that comes from the tomatoes.

    I'm curious about Northern tofu too. Hmm.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This dish looks delicious. Simple and easy to make too. I'll have to try it soon:) yum!

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  7. That's really interesting. This kind of reminds me of the Persian dish Mirza Ghassemi, or the Israeli dish Shakshuka. I guess every country has their tomato egg dish:-)

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  8. Hi girls - comfort food! Never used to care for this dish when I was a kid, but now it brings on a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I eat it. Oh, and I like the new colorful logo too!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Pattie:
    It's the opposite here! Only JS and I ate this! For some reason no one else wanted to eat it. =(

    tigerfish:
    LOL, re "something happened"...

    tasteofbeirut:
    CheapAppetite:
    Thanks! =)

    Wandering Chopsticks:
    The Northern-style tofu is more pock-marked, and plain, really smelled and tasted more soy milk-ish.

    Marc @ NoRecipes:
    Love shakshuka! Oh, we would have to look into Mirza Ghassemi.

    ET:
    Thanks, re logo. =)

    Know what, maybe we *are* "fake" Chinese. NO ONE in our family wanted to eat this! Only JS and I ate this. Weird. Very weird.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I wouldn't usually go for a tomato stew dish like this but there's something about that's really drawing me in! Definitely saving the recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  11. eatme_delicous:
    Tell us if you end up liking it after giving it a go. =)

    ReplyDelete

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