china's comfort food

Every country has its comfort food - a familiar flavor, a sure bet.

While China has many a comfort food that range from meats to sweets, below are a couple of my favorites - simplicity and affordability underestimate the flavor!

tomato•fried•egg

Tomato and egg join the familiar sweet and salty in an unlikely way, making this tasty comfort food a popular among locals and foreigners alike. The simplicity is surprisingly delicious.

In the campus canteen, the combo is often served over a bed of noodles or next to a bowl of rice.

tomato meets egg

THE RECIPE: TOMATO FRIED EGG

(1) tomato • (1) egg • oil • salt • sugar


THE METHOD: TOMATOES FIRST, EGGS LAST

1. 1 egg and 1 large tomato per serving
   
2. core and wedge tomatoes
   
3. add generous amount of oil* to wok
   
4. reduce the ripe tomatoes over medium-high flame
5. -meanwhile- add sugar and salt, for a balanced taste
   
6. beat eggs separately in a bowl
7. add pinch of salt to eggs
8. add water, approximately 1/3 quantity of eggs, beat
9. remove tomatoes from heat when saucy**
10. rinse pan and reuse for eggs
11. preheat liberal amounts of oil
    
12. scramble eggs in oil (have lid handy)
    
13. add tomatoes back into wok and reheat briefly
14. serve over noodles or rice

NOTES:

*Do no use extra virgin olive oil, aka evoo. In fact, I recommend not using any oil with recognizable flavor - a plain vegetable oil is perfect. The tomatoes and egg, coupled with sugar and salt provide plenty of flavor. I found a flavorful oil, such as evoo complicated the overall taste in a way that ruined the simplicity and made it an entirely different dish.

**If you only have sad, pink tomatoes at hand, the addition of plain tomato sauce (or paste) compensate nicely for the missing flavor and flavonoids alike.

*** While it is tempting for most cooks to add garlic at the oil-preheating stage, here too, I found that garlic complicated the flavor in an undesirable. Which is to say... it is simply another dish.

Feel free to adjust the ratio of egg:tomato as your palette calls to you.

The recipe above yield a pure, simple version tomato•fried•egg:

classic comfort food

fried•rice

Fried rice might be just leftover rice, but it is a second chance for steamed rice to remake itself in yet another wholesome way.

spicy Anaheim accents fresh eggs

THE RECIPE: FRIED•RICE

leftover•steamed•rice
scrambled•eggs
diced•Anaheim•pepper
vegetable•oil
thick•sweet•soy•sauce
pinch•o•salt


THE METHOD: MUSTGO*

1. preheat oil in wok over high flame
   
2. toss leftover rice in wok
3. break up an rice clumps
4. add soy sauce and toss evenly
5. add chopped vegetables and retoss
   
6. salt to taste
   
7. serve!
   

Every grain of rice ought to have a chance to bask in the heat of the oil, continuously tossing for an added depth.

Fried rice dictates very few rules, other than everything must be rice-size or comparably diced. As rice is the dominating component, any competition from the décor renders the rice an invader and the dish weak.

mustgo dinner

Two good friends of mine [back in the US] have coined a phrase for that dinners based on food which 'must go', else be left for a wasteful fate. And as any cook knows, this is often a creative opportunity to create a memorable recipe that might be passed on for generations.

Fried Rice is perhaps the epitome of the "mustgo' concept, and one is free to add a variety of diced vegetables (save, saucy ones!) or meats to the mix.

simply fried rice

Here in Beijing, it is quite common to find corn, ham, bell or Anaheim peppers, and the occasional carrot, all finely diced. And of course, fried rice is not fried rice without the scrambled egg.

staple fillers

Rice is most common in the south, while wheat-based noodles are favored in the north. Common people consume either and or both in the course of the average day, especially when eating at home.

A common custom in China is to dine without ordering any rice; this is particularly popular when taking guests out to dinner or otherwise trying to impress a client, etc.

The finest foods are offered up first, a variety of meats and vegetables, including both hot dishes and cold appetizers eaten alongside the main course(s).

When diners have put a sizable dent into the ordered dishes, soup is often ordered. Chinese culture favors a hot brothy soup to the glass of ice-water that is standard in the West. If, after the main course and soup, a bowl of rice is ordered, it is to appease the last of any lingering hunger.

To order steamed rice at the start of a meal is seen as miserly and can only be safely pulled off amongst the closest of friends. Fried rice, on the other hand, is an exception and can compliment most any meal and please most anyone.

Bon Apétite!