Chengdu Tomato and Egg Noodles

[00:00] This is Chengdu style tomato and egg  noodle soup, it’s fried eggs and cooked   noodles smothered in a rich tomato broth. While it’s not the most famous Sichuan   noodle soup out there, frankly speaking,  this recipe is probably one of the very  

[00:17] most delicious we’ve shared on this channel.  It’s just… really good, you have to try it. Because the combination of tomato and egg  is the definition of comfort food in China. 

[00:31] It’s a go-to for feeding kids, it’s at canteens,  it’s a homecook’s staple, it’s at restaurants,   you can find at all four corners of the country. And the color of the national flag of China? It’s  

[00:45] sometimes even being referred to as tomato  and egg. People just love it that much. Then in the early 00s in Chengdu, a noodle shop  called Hua Xing Jian Dan Mian presented this  

[00:57] combination at a particularly  right time and right place. Just like a lot of Chinese cities, there was a  clubbing district started to form in Chengdu in   the early 00s. Famous local spots like “Empty  bottles” started clustering around Yulin road,  

[01:14] where the aforementioned noodle  shop was also around the corner. And because when Sichuan people go out to  drink, they love their midnight snacks. So when you have a comforting tomato and  egg noodle soup together with a bunch of  

[01:30] late into the night after a lot of alcohol…  it’s no wonder that this soothing bowl   of tomato and egg became an institution  among that generation of Chengdu locals.

[01:45] Now, of course, over the years  Chinese cities changed… and   reportedly, Hua Xing Jian Dan Mian went  downhill before reopening elsewhere,   but in the meantime tomato and  egg noodles in Chengdu caught on.

[01:59] These days, one of the best shops is called  “Kangji Jiandan Mian”, which is what we based   our version from. So now I’ll hand it off  to Chris, who’ll show you how to make it.

[02:13] OK. So. To get started with our tomato and  egg, we’re gunna need… some tomato. Which,   unfortunately, is… the first thing that we’re  gunna have to think about. Because while for  

[02:26] this dish you don’t need the maximally  in-season tomatoes grown on the volcanic   slopes of Mt Vesuvius, it is going to help if your  tomatoes actually kinda… taste like tomato. Like,  

[02:40] for example in Chengdu something we’ve hear that  the best noodle shops do is that they’ll go around   and hunt for the best tomatoes that they can find,  and when they find them, they’ll freeze them for   this dish. Or for us here in Yunnan, we’re a  little bit spoiled here with all the little  

[02:58] micro-climates, we can generally get reasonable  quality tomatoes pretty much year round. So I was thinking on this problem, and my  American brain really started to churn…  

[03:10] because in the US we usually crack that nut  with canned tomatoes, and so I was thinking,   I dunno, maybe that could also work here? So we  tried it during testing and uh… yes. Absolutely,  

[03:25] this totally does work too. So. We’ve got three  tomato options for you today… first, if you are   happy with your fresh tomato quality, what you can  do is just grab 650 grams worth, cut a little x  

[03:40] into them, boil them to peel them like always, and  then toss in a blender together with a half cup   water, quarter teaspoon salt, and a tablespoon of  Shaoxing wine… blending it on the smoothie setting  

[03:52] to a smoothie-like consistency… and setting it  aside. But canned, I promise, is also really quite   delicious. So you can also use 350 grams of canned  tomato including its sauce obviously, crush the  

[04:08] tomato with your hands and then mix it with a cup  and a half of water, a quarter teaspoon salt, and   tablespoon Shaoxing wine. And then finally, option  three, what I actually liked the very best was a  

[04:21] mix of fresh and canned tomatoes. So if you wanted  to go that route you could use 450 grams or so of   fresh tomato of any quality, mix that with, I  dunno, like 175 grams or so of the canned tomato,  

[04:37] and then blend that together with the water, salt,  and Shaoxing quantities from option number one. Which brings us to the second thing we’re  gunna need with this dish – and that’s lard.   The very best shops in Chengdu what they’ll do is  that they’ll fry their tomato soup base in lard,  

[04:54] and then they’ll also end up frying their eggs  also in lard. Now I do know that not everyone   has a whole bunch of lard handy in their kitchen,  and then also some brands of mass produced lard  

[05:07] are definitely higher quality than others. So what  we decided to do with our recipe today was this:   start with fatty pork belly, from which we’ll  render out the lard to use for the dish and  

[05:19] then we’ll use the leftover crispy pork belly as a  topping. Now to be crystal clear, we’ve never ever   seen crispy pork belly like this as topping  for this dish in Sichuan, but it really is  

[05:33] pretty delicious and I don’t think that it would  really feel out of place in Chengdu. My opinion. So we’ll just slice up 300 grams of  fatty pork belly into thin strips,   then toss that in a bowl and mix  it with an eighth teaspoon salt,  

[05:47] eighth teaspoon MSG, and a half teaspoon  soy sauce. Then toss in a generous glug,   or about three tablespoons of oil, mix that  well, then add that all to a cool pot or wok.

[05:59] Then over a medium flame, slowly begin  to render out that lard until the pork   is brown and dry and crispy. This is  gunna take a hot second, about 15 or   maybe even 20 minutes or so… but once you’re  at about this point with the pork, remove it,  

[06:15] transfer it over to a paper towel lined  plate, and of course reserve all that lard. We’re going to need four tablespoons worth for  this soup. We’re using a claypot here today  

[06:27] but a dutch oven or any braising vessel totally  fine… and then, we’ll go in with our aromatics.   This was just four scallions, white part  removed and minced, an inch of ginger,   also minced, four cloves garlic, also  minced, and to get things really nice  

[06:43] and pasty something that I personally like doing  is taking a sprinkle or about an eighth teaspoon   salt mixing it with the minced garlic  and then chopping everything together   for 2-3 minutes until it’s basically a totally  uniform paste… but it’s completely up to you.

[07:01] Either way, just fry those over a medium flame  until they’re fragrant, about one minute, then   toss in a tablespoon of tomato paste – today I’m  using an Italian tomato paste because I do kinda  

[07:13] like Italian tomato paste plus I’m a sucker for  the tube… but just let that fry to stain the oil,   optionally toss in a teaspoon of a red fragrant  chili powder like Kashmiri or Gochugaru, fry that  

[07:26] to stain the oil… then go in with your tomato  mixture. If you blended it like I did today,   it is going to be kind of frothy, so I  like to boil that on medium high flame   to let that subside a bit… then add in 2  cups of water, or stock in an ideal world,  

[07:42] or a combination – dealer’s choice… and the  seasoning, up here on the screen… mix well,   and let that all simmer together  for at least a half an hour. And after that time, just season to taste… my  tomatoes today were a little on the sour side  

[07:58] so I also tossed in another ½ tsp sugar,  and no matter what, finish it all with a   good sprinkle of white pepper… and then  now this is good for noodles and eggs.

[08:12] Now for the eggs, we’re gunna be  frying our eggs like the noodle shops,   which are basically shallow fried by any other  name. So uh this is gunna be easiest if you have   a round bottomed wok, so we’ll teach you  how to fry them in this in just a second,  

[08:28] but if you don’t feel like walking that mile  that’s also completely fine, I totally get it,   really any style of fried egg is gunna be  pretty delicious here, just try to keep   the yolk a little on the harder side. But if  you do want to fry some eggs in this style,  

[08:45] first just crack two eggs, being really careful  not to break the yolk here, and then toss it in   some sort of easy to pour container like  a Pyrex. Then, get your wok piping hot,   add a half a cup of your rendered lard to the wok.  Then, flame on medium-high, heat up the oil until  

[09:03] it’s smoking and then pour the egg in. It’s gunna  aggressively and really satisfyingly puff and set,   so gently swirl it around to allow everything to  fry evenly… while also scooping a little bit of  

[09:18] the hot oil over the yolk to let everything set. And when it’s set, flip it, and cook for another   20-30 seconds on the other side. Then flip  that again to ensure perfect golden brown-ness,  

[09:32] and then continue to fry it to your own liking.  And then just scoop that to the side of the wok,   letting all the excess oil drain out, and  then transfer it to a paper towel lined plate.

[09:44] Then lastly, something that specifically  Kangji Jiandan Mian serves with theirs is   a bit of pickled chili oil – it’s optional,  you can add it if you want, but both me and  

[09:57] Steph really really like the addition. Now we  have an entire proper recipe for this stuff in   our “Every Sichuan Chili Oil” video, up here  on the screen, but I did kinda think it’d be,  

[10:11] I dunno, a little obnoxious to make you go chasing  that recipe in order to make this one. So today,   this is what we decided to do – we took fifteen  grams fresh spicy chilis, Heaven Facing,  

[10:23] Thai bird’s eye, that kinda thing… and together  with three cloves of garlic finely finely mince   those all together. Then, in a hot wok or  pan, swirl in a tablespoon half of oil and   then just fry those up over a medium flame. Fry  them past fragrant or until they begin to kinda  

[10:40] dry up a touch, about two minutes or so, then  swirl in a half tablespoon of rice vinegar,   or white vinegar if that’s all you have.  Then just mix, remove, and then that is   going to be our optional spicy-sour topping. Which then brings us to noodles. Today we’re  

[10:58] using 100 grams per serving of a dried  Sichuan-style alkaline noodle, but you   could also use fresh noodles here, 150 grams worth  in that case… and if you can’t find Chinese-style   noodles I do think a nice thin Japanese-style  ramen noodle would also be really good here.  

[11:15] But either way, once those are cooked, lay  those in a bowl, and then this is good to serve. So quantity of soup and everything  today is gunna be good for three   servings. So just take your fried egg  and lay it over… and then smother the  

[11:31] tomato soup all over everything. Toss in  a generous handful of your crispy pork,   a good sprinkle of those scallion greens,  optionally some of our pickled chili oil   sub or the real deal… and with that, now  you’ve got some tomato and egg noodles. 

[11:48] So when we make this kind of noodles,  we’d usually make the base first,   then prep all the toppings, and then cook the  noodles at the end. And once the noodle’s done,   we’ll just bring it to the table, so that everyone  can just assemble their own bowls of noodles. 

[12:04] So right, check out the recipes in the  description box, a big thank you for   everyone that’s supporting us on Patreon, and of  course, subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos.