Whampoa stir-fried eggs! This is a classic egg dish and - what's for me at least - my very most favorite way to scramble an egg. One of the cool things about this egg frying method is that you can add in an assortment of other ingredients - when they're other stuff added in, it's generally referred to as '[whatever] huadan'. In the video we show you a simple sort with Char Siu barbecue pork and Chinese yellow chives, but feel free to get creative.
I think I will end up making a Reddit post for this one, so I'll link it here when I post it.
INGREDIENTS
- 5 medium eggs
- Seasoning for the eggs: 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, a slurry of 1 tsp cornstarch (生粉) mixed with 1 tbsp water, optional 1/2 tsp liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), 1 tsp toasted sesame oil (麻油), 1/8 tsp white pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/8 tsp MSG -or- chicken bouillon powder (味精/鸡粉). Quick note that more traditional than the 1 tsp toasted sesame oil would be to add melted lard in the mix. You can definitely do that too, but I personally find it slightly redundant in the amount of lard I'm frying in. Totally up to you - if you feel strongly on the subject, add in, let's say... 2 tsp of melted lard.
- Lard, for frying. In the video I said 1.5 tbsp, but let's go 2 tbsp (I decided to measure again after cutting the footage, apologies it's one of those things I always eyeball). You can use butter for this too - preferably something clarified like ghee or clarified butter. I also tested this with bacon grease, which is delicious, but definitely gives everything an 'American breakfast' flavor.
- Add-ins: Char Siu BBQ Pork (叉烧), ~60g; Jiuhuang yellow chives (韭黄), ~20g -or- the white portion of, I dunno, ~4 scallions. Optional, of course.
If you're thinking about getting creative with you add-ins, I'd say that the quantity I like adding - if you don't mind me getting all grandmother with this recipe - is somewhere around a 'handful's worth'. If you want to get fusion-y with your ingredients, remove the Shaoxing wine and toasted sesame oil from the ingredient list (you can swap with relevant equivalents if you like, or just skip them). If you are adding something very salty as an add-in, be mindful of the salinity here - when I do this with smoked Chinese bacon, I'll cut the salt back to 1/4 tsp.
PROCESS
- Optional: separate the whites and yolks, whisk the whites until large bubbles start to form.
- If using any add-ins, cook your add ins. For us, we toasted the Chinese yellow chives for 2 minutes in a dry wok (note: Chinese yellow chives are very different from Western chives, do not toast your western chives for two minutes), and stir-fried the Char Siu for ~1 min
- Once you're almost ready to fry, add the whites back to the yolks. Whisk again. If you did not separate the eggs, whisk for ~1 minute or until you start to see big bubbles.
- Add in the seasoning. Quick whisk.
- If you have any add-ins, add the add-ins. Quickly combine.
- Fry according to the method in the video.
The famous Western-style soft scrambled egg video if you've been living under a rock: https://youtu.be/PUP7U5vTMM0 Actually a nice video now that I re-watch it.
And check out our Patreon if you'd like to support the project!
http://www.patreon.com/ChineseCookingDemystified
Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel): https://youtu.be/GHaL5H-VYRg
ABOUT US
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We're Steph and Chris - a food-obsessed couple that lives in Shunde, China. Steph is from Guangzhou and loves cooking food from throughout China - you'll usually be watching her behind the wok. Chris is a long-term expat from America that's been living in China and loving it for the last twelve years - you'll be listening to his explanations, and doing some cooking at times as well.
This channel is all about learning how to cook the same taste that you'd get here. Our goal for each video is to give you a recipe that would at least get you close to some of our favorite restaurants here. Because of that, our recipes are no-holds-barred Chinese when it comes to style and ingredients - but feel free to ask for tips about adaptations and sourcing too!