How To Make Chinese Egg With Mince Meat
Dec 15th, 2007 by admin
This is another of those precious hand-written recipes that my mother sent me when I started living in Beijing in 1996. She was worried I’d go hungry eating northern Chinese food, rather than the Cantonese home cooking I’m used to. This is healthy, nutritious and comforting.
Ingredients: (serves 1 for brunch or 2 as part of a meal with other dishes)
- 60g good quality cut of pork, chicken or beef
- handful of runner beans, finely chopped
- 1 medium-sized onion or 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- small piece of ginger, unpeeled and chopped
- 2 eggs
- groundnut or rapeseed oil
- sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
What to do next:
Roughly mince the meat by hand, using a knife. A good tip from Gary Soup is to freeze the meat first. I did this, left the meat to thaw for just a few minutes, then started cutting into it. It worked very well.
Beat two eggs, adding a little oil, salt and white pepper. Finely chop runner beans, onion or shallots and garlic. I cut the ginger into medium-sized slices, so that I could take them out just before serving.
Heat frying pan, add some oil and fry ginger and garlic. Cook the onion or shallots for two minutes, then add the beans and fry for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, fry meat in another pan, then add to beans and onions. Pour in beaten eggs and stir until softly cooked. It shouldn’t take more than a minute or two at most.
Serve hot with other dishes and steamed white rice. The last time I made this, I had it for brunch on its own!
See my recent post on my favourite Cantonese home-cooked meals for my mother’s other recipes.
Click for all Chinese recipes on World Foodie Guide
Hi
This recipe makes me think of sandwiches my father made for me after school when I came home to the family restaurant. He would slow fry some onions so not to brown but to soften and caramelise and then fry diced pieces of gammon ham and season with salt, white pepper and a drop of sesame oil, and make it into an omelette. Then he’d fold the omelette and cut into strips and we would have the strips of egg sandwiced together on some (then) thick slices of white bread and butter. Although, nowadays, it would be whole wheat or a grainy bread and no butter!! Anyway, a very yummy memory.
Also, reminds me of a dish, steamed eggs with minced pork, which I make for a simple supper served with steamed lap cheong (Chinese dried pork sausage) and stir-fried choi with sliced fish cakes, and maybe a cube or two of fermented bean cured as an accompliment, and of course steamed white rice. My kids love the steamed egg dish.
You use about quarter to half a pound of minced pork or chop your own belly pork finely and for a long time with the meat cleaver (but I don’t have time with young children!) Season and mix well with salt and a dash of sesame oil and white pepper (if you want, but my kids don’t like white pepper). Put the pork in a serving bowl with a flat bottom and shallow sides, which can be steamed. Crack four eggs into the dish and a bit of cold water (this is a judgment call as too much, the dish will be too watery and too little the dish won’t be light and fluffy). Using chopsticks beat the egg and water into the pork in the dish. Put some water in the wok to steam the dish and when the water in boiling, put the dish into the wok on a metal grid to steam. Takes about 20 mins, (not sure of exact time as I eyeball it) and check about 15 minutes into cooking. The dish should be light and fluffy and very tasty. Enjoy.
Susan S. Cheung
Hi Susan! Wow, this is making me so hungry as I love steamed egg. My mother makes it with dried scallops and sometimes some minced pork too. I think I’ll have to pay you a visit soon for some good home-cooked Chinese food…Helen Yuet Ling
Helen Yuet Ling, You’re welcome any time and look forward to sharing a meal with you one day,
Susan
this recipe looks lovely – going to make it this weekend.
Mei – I hope you’ll enjoy it! Just a very simple Cantonese dish that my mum likes to make…
Helen Yuet Ling
Sounds lovely and homey. I’ll definitely try it.
Maninas – thanks, it really is a delicious home cooked dish and very comforting!
Helen Yuet Ling