Name: Luffa with Eggs {丝瓜炒蛋 Sigua Chao Dan}
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 lb Luffa, 2 luffa gourd; 3 eggs; 1/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt, {additional 1 tsp for marinating the luffa, optional}; 1/2 tbsp minced garlic; 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp canola oil, or avocado oil; 1 stem of green onion, chopped; 1/4 cup of water; 2 tsp sesame oil, optional

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Luffa Stir Fried with Eggs, or Sigua Chao Dan {丝瓜炒蛋} in Chinese, is a traditional home cooking in China. A classic summer delight when seasonal luffa {Sigua 丝瓜} is readily available. So naturally delicious. A perfect vegetarian dish to enjoy this super nutritious gourd.

Luffa with Eggs Stir Fry Ingredients at-a-glance:

Chinese Sigua {Luffa}. Avoid Luffa turning black during cooking.

Sigua literally means “Silk Gourd” in Chinese, referring to the soft and slippery texture of the meat. Precisely the reason some people refer to as Chinese Okra.

Luffa can be in perfect cylindrical shape with smooth, relatively thin skin, such as Chinese Sigua; or in ridged shape with rough, thicker skin. However, they taste similarly.

Ridge Gourd, How to avoid Luffa turning black during cooking? — Ridged Gourd {Luffa}

Luffa is truly a naturally delicious and soft gourd. You need little condiments or seasoning to flavor them. A pinch of salt, a bit of minced garlic are all you need to cook a yummy Luffa with Eggs.

However, the fresh and tender luffa gourd is really the key here. If they are not fresh, or start to mature and grow seeds, then they may taste slightly bitter and fibery.

How to avoid Luffa turning black during cooking?

Depending on the type of luffa you have, it has a tendency to turn black during cooking. If you are curious about what caused luffa to turn black and how to avoid it from happening, read here.

How to cook a perfect Luffa with Eggs?

Tip No.1 is to prepare luffa properly to avoid it turning black during cooking

If it is a concern that the luffa you are cooking might turn black during cooking, then do this extra step will help a a lot.

First, soak peeled luffa pieces in plenty of water immediately after you cut them. Second, marinate them with a pinch of salt for about 10 minutes. Third, rinse them thoroughly under running water to get ride of the extra salt. Then cook right away.

Read here for a detailed explanation and guide on how to avoid Luffa turing black for cooking.

Tip No.2 is to scramble a soft egg in advance

This differs from other Chinese traditional fried egg dishes, such as Bitter Melon with Eggs where we simply pour the egg liquid over bitter melon, or Xing Chun {toona sinensis} with Eggs where we mix the tender toona sinensis leaves . For Luffa with Eggs dish, it is best if you make a soft scrambled egg first and then mix with stir fried Luffa.

Tip No.3 is to cook Luffa as quick as possible and avoid high heat

This is mainly for the presentation to have a vibrant fresh looking luffa dish. Luffa seeds contain black pigment which turns black when encountering high temperature. For fall luffa, the starch is likely to convert to sugar because of cold weather. The extra sugar will also make luffa turn black during the high heat prolonged cooking process.

Like egg dish? Try these tasty and healthy fried egg dish with vegetables:

Luffa with Eggs {丝瓜炒蛋 Sigua Chao Dan}

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Luffa with Eggs, or Sigua Chao Dan {丝瓜炒蛋} in Chinese, is a traditional home cooking in China. A classic summer delight that is naturally delicious. A perfect vegetarian dish to enjoy this super nutritious gourd.

Ingredients

1 lb Luffa, 2 luffa gourd
3 eggs
1/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt, {additional 1 tsp for marinating the luffa, optional}
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp canola oil, or avocado oil
1 stem of green onion, chopped
1/4 cup of water
2 tsp sesame oil, optional

Instructions

Prepare Luffa:

Wash and rinse luffa and peel the skin off using a heavy duty peeler.
If you are concerned the luffa might turn black, then do the following steps, otherwise go step #5 directly.
Fill a large washbasin with water. Trim off both ends and cut luffa into bite size diamond shape or slices, and immediately soak them in the large basin.
Rinse the luffa pieces under running water a couple times. Then drain and place them into a large mixing bowl. Add 1 tsp Himalyan pink salt, mix well with luffa pieces using a pair of wooden spatuals. Set aside for 10 minutes while you are working on other prep work.
Peel the garlic and mince using a compact food processtor.

Make a Soft Scrambled Egg:

Crack three eggs into a bowl, add 1/8 tsp Himalayan pink salt and chopped green onion, whisk vigoriously until fully blended.
Turn the heat to medium-high and heat a hard anodized fry-pan for 1 minute.
Add 1 tbsp canola oil into the fry-pan, use a mini silicone spatula to spread out the oil and the pour the egg liquid into the pan. Hold the handle of the fry-pan and tilt the pan to let the egg liquid flow and cover the entire pan base.
As soon as the egg starts to harden, use a slotted turner to seperate the egg crepe from the pan and then tilt the pan again to let the remaining egg liquid to spread out and get cooked. Repeat this until all eggs are cooked.
Once all the egg liquid are cooked, use the turner to chop down the egg into bite size. Turn off the heat, remove the eggs from the pan, and set aside.

Luffa and Eggs Stir Fry:

Rinse the luffa under running water thoroughly to get rid of the extra salt, and drain and set aside.
Turn the heat to medium and heat a hard anodized fry-pan for 2 minutes.
Add 1 tsp canola oil and luffa pieces. Quickly fold and mix for about 30 seconds, add the minced garlic and continue to mix and fold for another 1 minute.
Add the soft scrambled egg and 1/4 cup of water, fold and mix and cook for about 2 minutes.
Turn off the heat. Sprinkle 1/8 tsp Himalayan pink salt, fold and mix well using a slotted turner.
All done. Drizzle 2 tsp sesame oil over for extra yumminess, optional step and serve hot.