Braised Eggs with Noodles

Braised eggs with noodles is a dish you won’t necessarily find anywhere else. It’s more of a concept than a dish!

Braise scrambled eggs in a sauce with vegetables and herbs, and the savory mixture is served over noodles. It’s a low-cost breakfast, lunch, or dinner option that includes protein, veggies, and carbs in one (fast) meal.

Serve eggs with noodles?

The idea of topping a bowl of freshly boiled noodles with a scrambled egg sauce may seem strange at first glance, but it’s actually common in China. Eggs are not only served for breakfast in China, but also here in the United States. They are an all-time food.

When it comes to noodles, you might see a stir-fried egg offered on a home-cooked menu, with the option of rice or noodles. Eggs are present in noodle soups and stir-fries such as Singapore Mei Fun or Chao He Cai and others.

Eggs are rich and flavorful and lend themselves well to making a satisfying noodle dish (especially vegetarian). Here we’ve used wide ribbon noodles for a satisfying texture, but you could use any fresh or dried pasta you like. You could even serve this mixture over rice!

A truly last minute meal

I often use eggs for a quick meal and it shows, as we’ve shared so many quick egg recipes, from steamed eggs, to Ban Fan (mixed rice bowls), and eggs with soy sauce and shallots.

We’re filing this recipe under the last-minute meal category. When you haven’t defrosted any proteins from the freezer and have nothing in the fridge besides half a carton of eggs and a few odds and ends of vegetables, this recipe will have you enjoying dinner in no time.

It is vegetarian, without meat, but still rich in protein. I use a tomato here for the umami and a chilli for the spice (we keep both in the freezer for these occasions – see how to freeze flavors like chilli and how to freeze tomatoes).

Beyond that, however, you can use whatever vegetables you have in the fridge. I use zucchini, but you could use cabbage, carrots, peppers, broccoli, or leafy greens.

Sweet bean sauce and regular bean sauce

Just like our Shredded Pork with Sweet Bean Sauce, this braised egg recipe is another great use of sweet bean sauce and spicy bean sauce. They bring so much savory flavor to this dish.

The names of these ingredients in Chinese are 甜面酱 (tiánmiànjiàng) and 辣豆瓣酱 (là dòubàn jiàng). Sweet bean sauce is actually a misnomer, because it’s actually fermented wheat flour! Read more about this ingredient here. If you can’t find it or don’t have it, you can substitute hoisin sauce or sweet bean paste.

Spicy bean sauce is a fermented bean paste from Sichuan province that is featured in many Sichuan dishes. Read more here. Check out pictures of both pastas below so you know what to look for on the Chinese market!

jar of tian mian jiang sweet flour sauce

Jar of Doubanjiang (spicy bean sauce), thewoksoflife.com

stirring the braised egg noodles with chopsticks

Recipe instructions

First prepare the sauce mixture. Combine the sweet bean sauce, spicy bean sauce, rice vinegar, Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce and water. Prepare all the ingredients before you start cooking.

courgettes, chilli pepper, tomato, garlic and eggs

Preheat the wok over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke lightly and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Then immediately add the beaten eggs. Stir them until they are just cooked (they should still be a little runny) and quickly remove them from the wok.

Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the wok (still over medium-high heat), along with the tomato, chili pepper (if using), garlic, and courgettes. Cook for a few minutes until the tomatoes are softened and the courgettes are tender.

courgettes, tomato, chilli and garlic in the wok

pan-fried courgettes, tomato, garlic and chilli pepper

Add the prepared sauce to the wok, along with the eggs.

prepared sauce mixture added to vegetables in wok

scrambled eggs and vegetables in the wok

Stir, cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Add salt to taste and add sesame oil.

eggs and vegetables with sauce in the wok

Serve this mixture over cooked tagliatelle (alternatively you can serve it over rice).

Garnish with chopped shallots and serve these braised eggs with tagliatelle immediately!