Stir-fried garlic sprouts with eggs is a classic Northern Chinese home-style dish, embodying culinary wisdom and warm memories for ordinary people. I. The Origins of "Garlic and Eggs" in Ancient Texts - The Ming Dynasty text *Yang Xiao Lu* records "garlic sprouts mixed with eggs," emphasizing "choosing the tender ones and stir-frying quickly," consistent with the modern approach of quickly stir-frying garlic sprouts. - The Qing Dynasty text *Tiao Ding Ji* describes frying eggs by "stirring rapidly with bamboo chopsticks," the commonly used "chopstick frying method," which makes the eggs fluffier. II. Folk Stories - In times of scarcity, eggs were precious, while garlic sprouts were a common spring vegetable. Stir-frying them together saved eggs and added aroma, a simple yet profound culinary wisdom. - In Northern rural areas, garlic sprouts were harvested in spring, freshly picked and stir-fried, served with white rice—a childhood delicacy; now, it's a quick and easy home-cooked dish, a carrier of family affection and nostalgia. - Modern preparations are diverse, including adding wood ear mushrooms and carrots for color, using it as spring roll/dumpling filling, or even making it into pizza, becoming a cross-cultural home-style flavor.
Materials
7 Steps to Make Stir-fried Garlic Sprouts with Eggs
1. Wash the garlic shoots and cut them into sections about 3cm long. Add salt and mix. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then rinse it clean.
2. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add a little white vinegar, and stir well.
3. Prepare cornstarch slurry (it seems optional).
4. Heat oil in a pan and sauté garlic shoots and fermented black beans (optional) over low heat for 3 minutes, until small bubbles appear on the surface.
5. Add salt and water, stir-fry briefly, and set aside.
6. Add oil again, and once the oil is hot, pour in the egg mixture. Stir-fry quickly over medium heat until the egg mixture solidifies into chunks and turns slightly yellow.
7. Add garlic shoot segments, cornstarch slurry, and fresh matsutake mushrooms. Stir-fry over high heat for a few seconds. Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving plate.
