Yesterday was rough. A living hell.
Murphy’s Law was in full swing! I can’t say that it was all bad though, I did learn a few things.
- Knives are sharp thus allowing them to effortlessly cut through skin
- Never leave a lamp near the edge of a counter
- Make sure ALL shards of a broken light-bulb is picked up if it so happens to break
- Glass hurts when lodged in one’s foot
- Three pieces of glass hurts exponentially more than one
Again, not all bad. The true upside to all this…(no sarcasm)…is the inspiration for this dish. A Szechuan Shakshouka.
Also known as Eggs In Purgatory, is a Tunisian dish that consists of poached eggs in tomato sauce. My Shakshouka stays true to the origin but has a Szechuan spin. I did this because…
- Szechuan spices give dishes a fiery flavor and look (like here and here)
- The recipe I planned had blood and enough glass pieces in it to glisten from the light (HAHA, like Edward from Twilight)
- The name (Eggs In Purgatory) reflected my state of mind at the time
- I had all the ingredients to make this Chinese dish at home (*insert Asian joke here*)
- It goes great with rice (*insert more Asian jokes here*)
We all know what poached eggs are and we all know what tomato sauce taste like…right? So what makes this so spectacular? Is it the sweet, spicy, and spiced tomato sauce or the diced crisp onions that the sauce is covering? Maybe the springy egg whites supporting those silky yolks? Or how simple and fast this dish comes together? How cheap it is to make? I don’t know. Try it and tell me what you love most.
Despite the name, this plate was a little piece of Heaven to me. I know that was corny but I meant it!
Note: I have it pretty easy compared to most. This is just a bad situation that I am making light of. No sense in dwelling on the past.
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 4 stalks Scallion Green part separated for garnish.
- 1 tsp Ginger
- 1 large Yellow Onion
- 1 28 oz can Crushed Tomato
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tbsp Sriracha
- 5 large Eggs
- Salt To taste
- Chili Oil With The Flakes Optional
- Dice the onion. Mince the garlic cloves, ginger and scallion whites.
- In a large pan, over medium heat, fry the minced garlic cloves, ginger and scallion whites in the olive oil until fragrant (about 20 seconds).
- Add in the diced onions and saute. 2-3 minutes if you want some texture (a bite from the onion). 5-7 minutes if you want the onions to have a softer texture. Lightly salt the onions.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, cumin, sugar and sriracha. Mix and simmer until you have the texture you want (the longer this simmers, the thicker it will get...I cooked mine for 6).
- Taste and adjust (salt, sriracha and sugar). If the mixture is to your liking, drop the heat down to low and make a few wells. Add in your eggs and cook for 5-6 minutes (until the white is set).
- Top with diced scallions and Chili Oil With The Flakes.
This goes amazing with Rice!