Szechuan Egg Curry

I remember during the summer there a couple of months when I kept seeing pictures of egg curry on Instagram. I was intrigued. However, the 95-degree weather was holding me back from making a hot curry so I decided to wait until the temperatures dropped. Now that it's fall, it seemed the perfect time to finally try making my own egg curry. Most of the images I saw had an Indian influence but I went the Chinese route and created Szechuan egg curry. This meal comes together in no time and will warm you up from head to toe.

Recipe

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Szechuan Egg Curry

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: vegetarian

Servings: 4

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• 2 shallots minced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tablespoon ginger minced
• 4 tomatoes chopped
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorn ground
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 2 star anise
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoon water
• cilantro for garnish
• rice for serving

Instructions

• Place the eggs in a medium pot and add enough cold water to completely cover the eggs. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Turn off the heat and let the eggs sit in the water for 8 minutes. Drain the water and submerge the eggs in an ice bath. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel the shells.
• Heat ¼ cup oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add the turmeric and heat for 10 seconds. Add the cooked eggs and fry them until golden and slightly blistered on all sides. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and set them aside.
• Drain the oil, keeping 2 tablespoon in the pan. Add the shallots, garlic, and ginger and saute for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Add the tomatoes and saute for 1 minute. Add the vegetable or chicken stock, szechuan peppercorn, chili powder, star anise, and fennel seeds and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
• Season the curry with soy sauce and sugar and add the cornstarch water slurry. Add back the eggs and bring it back to a simmer. Season the curry with salt and pepper and garnish with cilantro. Serve with rice.

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

This Szechuan egg curry takes the idea of the Indian style egg curry but adds Chinese spices for an extra kick. We're going to mimic the traditional method but just add a few extra ingredients to give it a Szechuan twist.

To make this curry, first, boil the eggs. As much as I love a soft-boiled egg, we're going to make hard-boiled ones for this dish. Boil the eggs in cold water and bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water starts to boil, turn off the heat but keep the eggs in the water. Let them sit for 8 minutes, then drain the water and immediately submerge them in ice water. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel the shells.

Now we're going to turn the eggs into fried golden eggs. Heat oil in a wok or deep saute pan over high heat. Add the ground turmeric and cook for 10 seconds. Then, add the eggs and fry them in the turmeric oil until they're golden brown and slightly blistered. Aren't they beautiful?

Set the eggs aside while we prepare the curry sauce.

Remove half of the oil from the pan, keeping 2 tablespoon in the wok. Saute the aromatics including garlic, ginger, and shallots, until they're fragrant.

Next, add the tomatoes and simmer them until they start to soften. Add the remaining ingredients including the stock, spices, and Szechuan peppercorns. The Szechuan peppercorns don't add that much heat to the overall curry, rather they give a numbing effect. If you want more heat, add more chili powder.

Season the Szechuan egg curry with a dash of soy sauce, and sugar and thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry. Add back the eggs and simmer the curry for another minute or two, allowing the eggs to soak in the flavors. Finish with some chopped cilantro and serve the curry piping hot with a bowl of rice.

Normally curries take at least an hour to prepare. However, this Szechuan egg curry is ready in a fraction of the time and still delivers on flavor. I l thoroughly enjoyed the subtle heat with the sweet tomato base and the perfectly boiled eggs. A wonderful comfort dish that I may end up enjoying year-round!

For more curry inspiration check out this Japanese clam curry recipe!