Braised eggs with noodles is a dish that you won’t necessarily find anywhere else. It’s more of a concept than a dish!
You braise scrambled eggs in a sauce with vegetables and aromatics, and the savory mixture gets served over noodles. It’s a low-cost breakfast, lunch, or dinner option that has your protein, veggies, and carbs all covered in one (fast) meal.
Serving Eggs with Noodles?
The idea of topping a bowl of freshly boiled noodles with a sauce made from scrambled eggs may sound strange at first, but it’s actually common in China. Eggs aren’t only for breakfast in China as they are here in the U.S. They’re an anytime food.
When it comes to noodles, you may see a tomato egg stir-fry offered on a homestyle menu, with the option of rice or noodles. Eggs feature in noodle soups and noodle stir-fries like Singapore Mei Fun or Chao He Cai, and others.
Eggs are rich and savory, and lend themselves well to making a satisfying noodle dish (especially a vegetarian one). We used wide ribbon noodles here for a satisfying texture, but you could use any fresh or dried noodle you like. You could also serve this mixture over rice!
A True Last-Minute Meal
I often use eggs for a quick meal, and it shows, as we have shared so many quick egg recipes, from Steamed Eggs, to Ban Fan (Mixed Rice Bowls) and Eggs with Soy Sauce & Scallions.
We’re filing this recipe under the category of last minute meals. When you haven’t de-frosted any protein from the freezer, and you have nothing in the fridge besides a half carton of eggs and a few vegetable odds and ends, this recipe will have you enjoying dinner in no time.
It’s vegetarian—no meat involved—but still packed with protein. I use a tomato here for umami, and a chili pepper for spice (we keep both in the freezer for such occasions—see how to freeze aromatics like chili peppers and how to freeze tomatoes).
Beyond that, however, you can use whatever vegetables you have in the fridge. I’m using zucchini, but you could use cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, or leafy greens.
Sweet Bean Sauce & Regular Bean Sauce
Just like our Shredded Pork with Sweet Bean Sauce, this Braised Egg recipe is another great use of sweet bean sauce and spicy bean sauce. They bring so much savory flavor to this dish.
The names of these ingredients in Chinese are 甜面酱 (tiánmiànjiàng) and 辣豆瓣酱 (là dòubàn jiàng). Sweet bean sauce is actually a misnomer, because it’s actually fermented wheat flour! Read more about this ingredient here. If you can’t find it or don’t have it, you can substitute hoisin sauce or sweet bean paste.
Spicy Bean Sauce is a fermented broad bean paste from Sichuan province that features heavily in many Sichuan dishes. Read more about it here. See images of both pastes below so you know what to look for at the Chinese market!
Recipe Instructions
First, prepare the sauce mixture. Combine the sweet bean sauce, spicy bean sauce, rice vinegar, Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, and water. Have all your ingredients ready before you start cooking.
Preheat your wok over medium-high heat until it’s lightly smoking, and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Then immediately add the beaten eggs. Scramble them until they’re just done (they should still be a little runny), and quickly remove from the wok.
Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the wok (still over medium-high heat), along with the tomato, chili (if using), garlic, and zucchini. Cook for a few minutes until the tomatoes are softened and the zucchini is tender.
Add the prepared sauce mixture to the wok, along with the eggs.
Stir, cover, and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer over medium heat for 3-5 mins. Add salt to taste and stir in the sesame oil.
Serve this mixture over your cooked noodles (alternatively, you can serve it over rice).
Garnish with chopped scallion, and serve these braised eggs with noodles immediately!
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Recipe
Braised Eggs with Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sweet bean sauce (甜面酱)
- 1 tablespoon spicy bean sauce (辣豆瓣酱)
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
- ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce
- ½ to 1 cup water (we used ½ cup; add more if you like more sauce)
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, or avocado oil; divided)
- 4 large eggs (beaten)
- 1 small tomato (1 small tomato = 4 ounces/100g)
- 1 red chili pepper (optional)
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic (1 tablespoon = about 3 cloves)
- 1 heaping cup julienned zucchini (or vegetable of your choice)
- Salt (to taste)
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 scallion (chopped)
- 2 portions cooked noodles (or cooked rice, to serve)
Instructions
- First, prepare the sauce mixture. Combine the sweet bean sauce, spicy bean sauce, rice vinegar, Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, and water.
- Have all your ingredients ready before you start cooking. Preheat your wok over medium-high heat until it’s lightly smoking, and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Then immediately add the beaten eggs. Scramble them until they’re just done (they should still be a little runny), and quickly remove from the wok.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the wok (still over medium-high heat), along with the tomato, chili (if using), garlic, and zucchini. Cook for a few minutes until the tomatoes are softened and the zucchini is tender.
- Add the eggs back to the wok, along with the prepared sauce mixture. Stir, cover, and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer over medium heat for 3-5 mins. Add salt to taste and stir in the sesame oil.
- Serve this mixture over your cooked noodles (alternatively, you can serve it over rice). Garnish with chopped scallion.
