Chinese noodle soup with tomato eggs 西红柿鸡蛋面

This winter in Beijing is definitely colder than last year’s, and last year was colder than the one preceding it. Good Lord, if it goes on like this, it will be like living in the polar regions! Anyway for me, winter is synonym to eating hot soups and since I am mad about noodles, it means noodle soup for me! One of the easiest noodle soup recipe is the one with tomato eggs, which is also very popular in Beijing. It is also known as 西红柿鸡蛋面, noodle soup with tomato eggs. I remember that the first time I discovered this soup was with my friend Virginie in the school canteen. She was eating it with such appetite I thought I must definitely eat that next time! And the next time, I devoured it. It was heaven and I am not exaggerating. Chinese noodle soup recipes are simply the best noodle soup recipes. They can make very delicious soups and this tomato eggs noodle recipe is simply wonderful as well as very easy to make. Tomato eggs recipe is also another very popular recipe here, known as 西红柿鸡蛋, except that you don’t add the noodles and make it into a soup. Pretty creative huh? 2 main ingredients and 2 different ways of eating. I love chinese recipes! My recipe is a slight modification of the original recipe, because I use mushrooms which are very well available these days. These are the mushrooms I used, but you can also use shiitake mushrooms.

If you are using the dried shiitake, you need to soak them in some warm water for at least 5 minutes. Wash your mushrooms thoroughly, especially shiitake ones with warm water to remove all the dust. You can use any kind of noodles, I used the flour noodles because they are so easily available. You can also try with spaghetti. Be creative!

Noodle Soup with Tomato Eggs recipe

Ingredients:
2 tomatoes, chopped and unseeded
3 large eggs
salt
1 pinch of black pepper
1 tsp chicken powder (鸡精）
1 tsp oyster sauce (optional)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 handfuls of flour noodles
6-7 mushrooms sliced
1/2 tsp sesame oil
oil

Steps:
1. Break the eggs into a bowl. Add salt, black pepper and oyster sauce (optional). Lightly beat with a fork or chopsticks.
2. Heat oil in a pan. When hot, add the egg mixture (if using a wok, spread the eggs using your spatula) and when it starts “solidifying”, start stirring until the eggs form lumps. Gently break the
lumps into smaller pieces. Set aside the cooked eggs.
3. Clean your pan and heat 1 tsp oil. Fry the ginger for 1-2 seconds until fragrant.
4. Add the mushrooms, the tomatoes and fry until tomatoes become soft. Add salt, chicken powder and sugar. Cook for 1-2 mins.
5. Add water to cover the tomatoes. Cover and let simmer for 4-5 minutes.
6. Add the eggs and add more water if you want more soup. Taste for salt. Cover and cook for another 30 seconds.
7. Add the chopped scallions and remove from heat.
8. Cook the noodles:
(a)Bring water to a boil.
(b)Add the noodles and according to the noodle type, cook until well-cooked.
(c) Drain under cold water. Add the sesame oil and mix well.
9. Pour the tomato eggs soup into each bowl and add the amount of noodles needed in each bowl. Serve.