Hunanese Stir-fried Eggs with Green Peppers

TS:
Man, another Fuchsia Dunlop recipe? She should be paying us for advertising her book so heavily! Not that she actually needs us to advertise her books for her. ;)

JS:
She might have needed some help with the advertising before she came out with Land of Plenty, her Sichuanese cookbook. Compared to the Hunan book (Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook), Land of Plenty seems decidedly low-budget.

Anyhoo, the pictures in the Hunan book are glossy, thereby inspiring us to cook some more dishes from it.

This is a simple home-style dish, perfect for those days when going meatless is our heart's desire.

TS:
Yes, non-spicy Hunan dishes do exist. ;)

Although, there is nothing specifically Hunanese about this; it can live quite happily within a number of cuisines.



TS:
It really is as simple as cooking some green peppers, adding beaten eggs, and cooking some more.



TS:
The key for me, however, is the "wok-hei" flavor of the peppers, not that I proclaim to know how to properly achieve wok-hei. But see how the peppers are a little bit charred?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wok_hei#Wok_hei



TS:
We used green bell peppers for this dish as per the recipe. I recall reading in the book that the Hunanese use green peppers often in their cooking.

JS speculated that perhaps that is why we keep seeing small green bell peppers at our usual Asian supermarket. Perhaps they stock these as there seems to be more people from mainland China now (as opposed to people from Hong Kong or Taiwan like days of yore).

In the introduction to the recipe, however, Fuchsia (first name basis) talks about the "lazy piquancy" of the peppers in this dish, and how she uses Turkish peppers with a "gentle hotness".

Hmm, these bell peppers had no heat at all.

JS:
When we ate a Hunan restaurant a couple of weeks ago, one of their dishes was "Pork with Green Chili", for which they used completely de-seeded and de-ribbed jalapeños. I assume this is because the green chiles they use in Hunan is not readily available here.

I missed the hint of heat in this dish, so for next time, I think we'll go the seeded jalapeño route.



eatingclub Hunan dishes
Hunanese Chopped Salted Chiles (剁辣椒)
Mao's Hunan Red-Braised Pork (毛氏紅燒肉)
Steamed Red-Braised Pork with Pickled Mustard Greens (酸菜蒸紅燒肉)
Hunanese Stir-fried Eggs with Green Peppers
Hunanese Steamed Chicken with Salted Chiles (剁辣椒蒸雞)

Some eggy eatingclub dishes
Tarragon-Carrot Deviled Eggs
Golden Egg Torta
Hunanese Stir-fried Eggs with Green Peppers
Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish "Omelette")
Piedmont Marinated Eggs
Asparagus and Crab Egg Crêpes
Stir-fried Egg and Tomato
Oyster Torta
Torta with Pork and Kecap Manis
Curried (Easter) Egg Salad
Taiwanese Stewed Eggs (滷蛋) with Stewed Minced Pork (魯肉 or 肉燥)
Longsilog (Longganisa + Sinangag + Itlog)
Torta (Mexican Sandwich)
Mr. Zheng's Soupy Tomatoes and Eggs with Tofu
Nasi Lemak (Malaysian Coconut Rice Meal with Sambal)
Home-style Chinese Steamed Egg with Pork
Golden Shrimp Torta (Philippine Shrimp Omelette)

Enjoyed this post? Why not subscribe to our blog? Subscribe via reader or subscribe via email. Thank you!

Recipe
Stir-Fried Eggs with Green Peppers
from Fuchsia Dunlop's Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province

9 oz. green bell peppers
4 extra-large eggs
salt
3 tbsp. peanut oil for cooking

Discard stems of the peppers and cut on an angle into bite-size chunks. Beat the eggs with salt to taste in a small bowl.

Smear the wok with a little oil and heat over a medium flame. Add the bell peppers and stir-fry for about 5 minutes, pressing them against the side of the wok with your wok scoop/ladle, until they are fragrant and tender, their skins a little golden and puckered.

Add the rest of the oil, and when it is hot, pour in the eggs and mix well. Scramble the eggs and peppers, adding a little more salt to taste, if necessary. Don't stir the eggs too constantly so they set into folds. When the eggs are just cooked, turn onto a serving dish.