Page 18 - YunnanTourismCultureTimes (118)

17 FOOD | 好吃

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes

and its Kunming connection

的

老家是昆明？

By Wang Jingzhong and Han Chengyuan □ 王靖中 韩成圆 / 文

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, that iconic, sweet-and-
sour national dish with its vibrant red and yellow hues, is vivid-
ly etched into the taste memory of every Chinese household.
Yet, rewind the clock a hundred years, and tomatoes were
grown merely for ornament, their partnership with eggs still a
culinary future yet to be written.
From its days as an ornamental plant in the Ming(1368-
1644) and Qing(1644-1912) dynasties, to becoming a popular
stir-fry in Kunming’s humble eateries during the War of Re-
sistance Against Japanese Aggression, to its status today as
the “first dish every cook must learn”—the union of tomato
and egg carries far more than just flavor. It is the story of an
ingredient’s journey, a record of culinary fusion, a testament to
wartime ingenuity, and a witness to how tastes migrate with
moving populations.

番茄炒蛋，这道红黄相映、滋味酸甜的国民家常菜，几乎刻进
了每个中国人的味觉记忆。然而，若把时光倒转百年，番茄竟一度
只是观赏植物，与鸡蛋的结合更是无从谈起。
从明清的观赏植物，到抗战时期在昆明小饭馆里的畅销小炒，
再到今天厨房里的“入门必修”——番茄与鸡蛋的相遇，远不止于
美味。它是一段食材的流浪史，一次口味的融合记，更见证了战争
年代的物资智慧、人口流动中的风味迁徙。