Comfort Food

When I was a teen in the late 1990s, I lived in Beijing with a Chinese family for a year. I used to come into our apartment every day after school to the sound of my host mother, calling out to me from the kitchen as soon as she heard the jingling of the outer metal front door, “回来了吗?” (“Are you back?)” It was always me; my host sister was always still at school, already studying for the massive exam she would take two years down the road. And my host dad was likely sitting in his underwear on a low stool, intently playing on the computer and internet he was fortunate to have in 1998.

That year, I was so often ill. I think it was a combination of anxiety, homesickness, pollution (back then they said the air in Beijing was so toxic it was equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day), unfamiliar food and just being a teenager. Whatever it was, my stomach seemed to always hurt, and my host mom didn’t know what to do with me, food wise.

But she just kept trying. And I remember one day after school she made me this— the dish every foreigner who has ever gone to China knows oh so well— 西红柿炒鸡蛋— stir-fried egg and tomato— and I loved it. I still do.

It’s not that special. It’s super simple. And it comforted and soothed me in 1998 just as much as it did today.

Recipe: @fuchsiadunlop (but I added scallions just because) 🥚: @clarence_court
🍅: @iowtomatoes