Garlic chives with eggs is a very popular dish in Chinese cuisine. But it requires quite a lot of oil to make a nice coating on eggs to achieve a silky texture. Because of that, I would prefer making it in a Japanese way which is more healthy in my point of view.
In Japan, this dish is named ‘niratama’（ニラ玉）. ‘nira’ is garlic chives, also called Chinese chives or Chinese leeks. Today, I cooked a similar version, but it didn’t require a drop of oil, and the result was very moist and satisfying.
What is Tamagotoji（卵とじ）?
‘tamagotoji’ is a Japanese cooking technique, which is pouring whisked eggs into dashi/cooking liquid. In an authentic way, you need to slowly pour in the eggs(perhaps using chopsticks) at the edge of a pot/pan, and make sure the egg won’t be overcooked.
Do you remember oyakodon（親子丼/chicken and egg rice bowl）? That fluffy egg on top of a kind of soup cooked with soya sauce and dashi, that’s a very popular dish using ‘tamagotoji’ technique.
Garlic Chives with Eggs Video Recipe (Nira No Tamagotoji)
Ingredients
Serves 2
- 80 g garlic chives (Chinese chives)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 150 g firm tofu
For the Sauce
- 100 ml dashi/soup stock
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp ShaoXing wine or cooking sake
- ¼ tsp sugar (skip if using mirin)
How to Make Garlic Chives with Eggs in Japanese Style Without Oil
- Cut the tofu into small cubes; Cut the garlic chives cut into 3-4cm long.
- Pour all the sauce ingredients into a pan, then add the tofu and bring to a boil.
- Add garlic chives and cook until softened.
- Pour over the eggs and cook until the eggs are about to fix. Immediately remove from heat, cover with a lid and let it cooks for a further 2 minutes. When the eggs are just set, serve immediately.
