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Fried Egg & Tomato, a REAL Chinese dish!

Saturday, August 8, 2009 · 4 Comments

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:

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YUMMA YUMMA!!

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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)!

Lunch Box Buffet
257 W 34th St # 1
New York, NY
(212) 868-8881

Categories: SeoulFOOD
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4 responses so far ↓

  • greenmilktea // Saturday, August 8, 2009 at 9:23 pm

    That looks yummy. My family sometimes cook it with egg but mostly with just some ginger and sugar. It’s very yummy.

  • seouldiva // Monday, August 10, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    Wow, can I come over for dinner?! :)

  • Kaushik // Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 11:25 am

    Hello SeoulDiva!
    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! :D (She is Chinese Canadian)
    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! :-)

  • seouldiva // Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    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!

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