Fan Keng Yook Sui Tong Fan
番茄肉碎湯飯·(faan-keng yook-sui tong-faan)
Cha Chaan Teng Mornings: The Weekend Breakfast Ritual
If you walk into a clattering Hong Kong cha chaan teng on a rainy morning, you’ll inevitably see locals hunched over steaming bowls of this unapologetically red soup. It’s the ultimate Cantonese comfort food, built for a busy Tuesday night in an Ohio suburb just as well as it works in Kowloon. The secret isn't some rare, smuggled ingredient—it's technique. You have to relentlessly stir-fry the tomatoes in hot oil until they surrender into a rich, tangy paste before a single drop of water touches the wok. Do that, and you've got a bowl that tastes exactly like the motherland.
Before you start
Velvet the pork.
In a medium bowl, combine the ground pork, light soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of the sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, white pepper, cornstarch, and water. Vigorously stir the mixture in one direction until the liquid is fully absorbed and the meat becomes sticky. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the neutral oil to coat, and let sit for at least 10 minutes.
Prep the produce.
Chop the tomatoes, dice the onion, mince the garlic, and cube the potato while the pork rests so everything is ready for the wok.
Ingredients
- ground pork1 lb
- light soy sauce1 tbsp
- sugar2 tsp
- salt1/2 tsp
- white pepper1/4 tsp
- cornstarch1 tbsp
- water2 tbsp
- neutral oil2 tbsp
- Roma tomatoes1 1/2 lb
- fresh ginger3 slice
- garlic3 med clove
- yellow onion1 small
- tomato paste1 tbsp
- Yukon Gold potato1 med
- chicken broth4 cup
- cooked Jasmine rice4 cup
- scallions2 med
- cilantro1/4 cup
Method
- 01
Sear the pork.
Heat a wok or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the marinated pork, breaking it apart quickly with a spatula, and sear just until it loses its raw pink color, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pork from the pot and set it aside so it doesn't overcook.
- 02
Sauté the aromatics.
In the same pot with the residual pork fat, add the ginger, garlic, and diced onion. Sauté for about 1 minute until fragrant.
- 03
Mercilessly stir-fry the tomatoes.
This is the non-negotiable secret to the dish. Add the tomato chunks and a pinch of salt. Turn the heat to medium-high and actively stir-fry for 5 to 7 minutes, pressing down on them with your spatula. Cook until they collapse into a jammy, bubbling, bright orange-red paste and the oil begins to separate at the edges.
- 04
Build the broth.
Stir the tomato paste into the collapsed tomatoes and cook for 1 minute to replicate that intense tea cafe flavor. Pour in the chicken broth and add the cubed potato.
- 05
Simmer and reunite.
Bring the soup to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Return the partially cooked pork to the bubbling soup for 2 to 3 minutes to finish cooking.
- 06
Season and serve.
Taste the broth. If the tomatoes were highly acidic, stir in the remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar. Add salt to taste. Place a mound of cooled cooked rice into individual bowls, ladle the boiling hot soup over the top, and garnish heavily with scallions and cilantro.
Notes
The tomato paste cheat code.
American winter tomatoes are notoriously lackluster. Do not feel guilty about using a tablespoon of tomato paste or even ketchup. Legendary Hong Kong open-air stalls do exactly this to standardize their rich flavor year-round.
Keep the rice separate.
If you have leftovers, store the soup and the rice in separate containers. Pouring boiling hot soup over cold, day-old rice right before eating preserves the grain's distinct, slightly chewy texture and prevents the dish from turning into mush.