How many eggs does steamed egg need per person?

Two eggs per person in a shallow bowl, with about 1.5 times their volume in water. A deep bowl steams unevenly, so keep the mixture no more than three centimetres deep.

Why does my steamed egg come out full of holes?

Two usual causes: the water was too hot when you mixed it, or steam condensed and dripped back onto the surface. Use warm rather than boiling water, strain the mixture, and cover the bowl.

Can I make these dishes ahead of time?

Braised eggs improve over two days in the fridge. Steamed egg and scrambled eggs do not, both turn grainy once reheated. Egg fried rice is the exception and reheats better than it ate the first time.

Which is the cheapest egg dish here?

Egg drop soup. Seaweed, one egg, boiling water, and it comes in under a dollar for two servings. Egg fried rice costs slightly more and feeds more people.

10 Egg Dishes (Not Just Fried): What to Cook With a Carton of Eggs

Chinese egg recipes go well past the fried egg. Ten chinese egg dishes built from one carton, easiest first, plus the steamed egg ratio that keeps the custard from turning rubbery.

Type egg recipes chinese into a search box and the same four dishes come back: fried, scrambled, tomato, tea eggs. This index carries more than sixty chinese egg recipes past those, and the ten below all start from one carton. They are ordered so the first four need a single pan and nothing you have to shop for. If easy chinese egg dishes are what you want, begin at number one and stop when the carton runs out. Two of them get their own sections lower down: chinese steamed egg, which is mostly a water ratio problem, and tomato egg stir fry, which is mostly an order-of-operations problem.

Four things the carton decides

Eggs behave differently depending on how fresh they are and how cold, and two of the ten dishes below care about that more than the rest.

Room-temperature eggs whisk to more volume. Take them out twenty minutes before you start.
Older eggs peel cleanly once boiled. Very fresh ones take the white with the shell, which matters for braised eggs.
Cold eggs hitting hot oil splatter and set unevenly. Same problem with a cold bowl set over steam.
Size only matters in steamed egg, where the water is measured against the egg rather than the cup.

Ten chinese egg dishes, easiest first

One carton, ten dishes. The first four are on the table inside fifteen minutes.

Tomato and egg (番茄炒蛋) at /recipes/tomato-and-egg. The dish every Chinese household learns first. Tomatoes slump into a sauce, egg stays soft, rice goes underneath.
Egg fried rice (蛋炒饭) at /recipes/egg-fried-rice. Cold rice, two eggs, five minutes. The pan has to be hotter than feels reasonable.
Garlic chives scrambled eggs (韭菜炒蛋) at /recipes/garlic-chives-scrambled-eggs. The chives go in near the end so they stay green and sharp.
Green pepper scrambled eggs (青椒炒鸡蛋) at /recipes/green-pepper-scrambled-eggs. Pepper first, egg second, and the pan stays dry the whole time.
Cucumber scrambled eggs (黄瓜炒蛋) at /recipes/cucumber-scrambled-eggs. Cucumber goes in raw and stays crisp, which sounds wrong and works anyway.
Chopped chili steamed egg (剁椒蒸蛋) at /recipes/chopped-chili-steamed-egg. Steamed custard with a spoonful of Hunan chopped chili on top.
Minced pork steamed egg (肉末蒸蛋) at /recipes/minced-pork-steamed-egg. The pork is fried separately and spooned on at the table so the surface stays smooth.
Shrimp steamed egg (虾仁蒸蛋) at /recipes/shrimp-steamed-egg. Shrimp sit on top for the three minutes before it comes out and steam through.
Home-style braised eggs (卤蛋) at /recipes/braised-eggs-luwei. Boiled, cracked, then simmered in master stock. Better on the second day.
Seaweed egg drop soup (紫菜蛋花汤) at /recipes/egg-drop-soup. Off the heat before the egg goes in, or you get shreds instead of ribbons.

Chinese steamed egg: the ratio that holds

Steamed egg fails in one of two ways, and both come down to numbers more than technique.

Whisk with 1.5 times the egg volume in warm water. Measure against the egg, not the cup: three eggs takes roughly 150 ml of water each way.
Strain the mixture. Foam and the chalaza are what leave holes across the surface.
Cover the bowl. A plate or cling film keeps condensation from dripping back and pitting the top.
Steam over medium rather than high. Eight to ten minutes for a shallow bowl, and the centre should still wobble when it comes out.

💡 Rubbery custard means it went too long, not too hot. Take two minutes off next time and lift the lid early rather than waiting for the timer.

Easy chinese egg dishes for a weeknight

Four of the ten work on a Tuesday with nothing planned.

Egg fried rice, because it exists to clear out the fridge.
Tomato and egg, because tomatoes keep for a week on the counter.
Garlic chives scrambled eggs, because it is one pan and four minutes of heat.
Seaweed egg drop soup, because it is a side dish that costs almost nothing.

Tomato egg stir fry, in order

Two ingredients, and it still gets made badly. The order is what fixes it.

Scramble the eggs first and take them out while they are still soft. They finish in the sauce.
Cook the tomatoes alone until they slump and give up their water, about three minutes.
Add a pinch of sugar. Tomatoes vary in acidity and the sugar evens them out without making the dish sweet.
Return the egg, break it into pieces, and toss twice. Salt goes on at the very end, or the tomatoes never soften.

Start with /recipes/tomato-and-egg tonight, and read /blog/firm-vs-soft-tofu for the other cheap protein on this site. Every dish above is on haoweirecipes.com with timings and a full ingredient list. More lists like this are at /blog, and the full recipe index is at /.