Preserved radish omelet or 菜脯蛋 (pinyin: Cài pú dàn/Taiwanese Hokkien: chhài-pó͘-nn̄g) is a common breakfast dish and the perfect accompaniment to rice porridge. This is my mom’s Taiwanese preserved radish omelet recipe. Every family has their own special way of making this dish and I’m sure you will too!

Growing up, we never asked, “what’s for breakfast?”, because it was always rice porridge with pork floss and radish omelet. When I moved out on my own, radish omelet was the first Taiwanese food I asked my mom how to make. Now I have kids of my own who request porridge and radish omelet all the time.

Since my mom cooks without measuring ingredients, it took some trial and error to make this dish the way she does, and now I share the recipe with you. I hope you enjoy it!

You can find preserved radish, aka salted turnip, in the refrigerated section of your Asian market. If you cannot find this, you can also use Tianjin preserved vegetable that comes in a brown ceramic pot in the dried goods section.

Did you know you can easily grow green onions? Just save the white parts with the roots and plant them in dirt. In just one week you will be able to trim some greens for your dish! These were all from my patio garden!

I prefer the radish and green onions finely minced. You can add more or less. The beauty of this recipe is that you adjust the ingredients to your taste! I like to add a lot of white pepper. Some people use chicken broth instead of water or even add a dash of soy sauce.

Mix all your ingredients and then pour into your hot wok or frying pan. That’s pretty much it. So simple and delicious!

Taiwanese Preserved Radish omelet Recipe 菜脯蛋食譜

Jeanne Chang

Preserved radish omelet or 菜脯蛋 (pinyin: Cài pú dàn) is a common breakfast dish and the perfect accompaniment to rice porridge. This is my mom's Taiwanese preserved radish omelet recipe.

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 10

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Chinese, Taiwanese

Servings 2

Ingredients

2 whole eggs
1/4 cup green onion/scallion/chives, minced adjust the amount to your tastes
1-2 tbsp preserved radish, minced adjust the amount to your tastes
2 tbsp water To give the omelet a lighter texture
1 tbsp oil

Optional

1 dash white pepper
1 pinch sugar

Instructions

Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan on medium high heat.
Add the rest of the ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix with chopsticks or a whisk
Pour into the hot pan and cook until the center of the egg is starting to cook. The first side should be golden and starting to brown. If you like your eggs softer, flip earlier.
Flip and cook for a couple of minutes until cooked through.

Keyword chinese omelet, chinese omelette, chive omelet, green onion omelet, pickled radish, salted radish, scallion omelet, taiwanese omelet, taiwanese omelette, 菜脯蛋

If you want to read more about Taiwanese food, I found this interesting Wikipedia Page on Taiwanese Cuisine. Also, try my other easy Taiwanese recipes.