Wok Wednesdays: Stir-Fried Eggs with Tomatoes

Years ago, when I was just developing an interest in cooking, I bought a wok along with a beginners' Chinese cookbook.  I marveled at the recipes presented in order of difficulty. I don't know why, but I never, ever made any of the dishes from that book.  Instead, I used the wok to make vegetable tempura and omelets. What possessed me? Who knows? As I recall, the omelets came out quite well.  These days I'm happy that I now include stir-fries in my repertoire.

This week's recipe is Stir-Fried Eggs with Tomatoes. I was really pleased that I had most of the items on hand from the ingredient list.  I substituted fresh basil for the cilantro; we're not big cilantro fans and my basil plant is still producing.  I also used onions instead of shallots because I had them on hand.

I decided that in case we didn't like the recipe, I should make a second dish.  I made mu shu vegetables using tortillas as the pancakes. The recipe was adapted from Millie Chan's Kosher Chinese Cookbook.    I spent about 30 minutes, laying out all the ingredients for both recipes and then started stir-frying.  Everything went great. The only point I started to worry was when I put the eggs into the wok and they just sat there. No fabulous sizzle. No hot bubbling eggs.  I stood there for a moment and then started mixing from the bottom of the pan up. In the end, it all came together.  The garlic and onion gave the eggs a nice crunch and the basil and sesame added flavor.

This recipe is from Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge  by Grace Young, a book well worth adding to your cookbook library. To find out how others enjoyed this recipe, check out the Wok Wednesdays  site.