Fried Egg & Tomato, a REAL Chinese dish!
8 Aug
Yes, I may be a SeoulDiva, but I can also kick it to you in Mandarin! 
You may or may not know, I was actually an Asian Studies major in college, and studied Mandarin Chinese for 3 years to fulfill my language requirement. During those years, I also ended up getting in touch with my inner Chinese Chick.
Chinese Food in America gets a really bad rap. Back in 2000, I did a Freeman Fellowship in Harbin, China (NorthEastern Region, right above North Korea) – and I was OVERWHELMED by how amazing the food was there. I slowly came to realize that most of the Chinese food here were watered-down iterations of the real stuff.
One of the dishes I ate while I was there was called: Chǎo Jīdàn Xīhóngshì – 炒鸡蛋西红柿.
Literal translation: Stir-fried Egg Tomato. (One of the reasons I love the Chinese language is how LOGICAL it is.) It’s a very simple dish: Tomato, Egg, Garlic and Oil. If you want to try this at home, click HERE for a recipe!
Today, I was at this place on 34th Street, between 7th & 8th Aves called Lunch Box Buffet. It’s essentially a Chinese buffet place where you get 5 items for $5. You CAN’T beat that!
I was ECSTATIC to see that they had this dish there! I hadn’t seen this dish since I was in China back in 2000:
YUMMA YUMMA!!
If you’re in Midtown and are looking for a cheap place to eat, you really can’t beat the Lunch Box Buffet. $5 for 5 items!!
They also have Chinese pastries in the front of the store, as well as Bubble Tea and Baozi (stuffed buns)!
Tags: Cheap Eats, Chinese Food, Lunch Box Buffet, Midtown, NYC, Vegetarian Chinese
That looks yummy. My family sometimes cook it with egg but mostly with just some ginger and sugar. It’s very yummy.
Wow, can I come over for dinner?!
Hello SeoulDiva!
(She is Chinese Canadian)
I was looking for the name of this yummy dish that I learned to cook from my Chinese friend and chanced upon your blog. I had once wielded my spatula to impress my girlfriend with the dish!
Now I am doing it for my parents and they want to know its authentic name as they prepare for accepting a Chinese daughter in law. Now I have a name to tell them! Thanks!
Hey Kaushik!! Such a small world! There are so many truly authentic Chinese dishes that haven’t made it stateside yet – such a shame, really. I’ve never actually made the dish at home…Let me know how it turns out!