Sugar Tomatoes (Tang Ban Xi Hong Shi)
The five-ingredient dessert-salad every Chinese child grew up on: ripe tomatoes, sugar, summer.
Quick answer: This is a genuine Chinese home dish — 10 minutes total, 2 main ingredients plus pantry staples, one pot, and zero wok skills. Serve it after a rich or spicy meal — Chinese families use it as the palate-cleansing dessert course.
2main ingredients
3steps
1pot / pan
0wok skills
The story
Before ice cream, there was this: ripe tomatoes sliced and showered with white sugar until they weep a sweet pink syrup. It is a real dish — a nostalgic Chinese summer dessert-salad — and proof of how far simple can go.
Ingredients (2 + pantry staples)
- Ripe tomatoes — 4 large
- Sugar — 2 tbsp (counts here — it IS the dish)
Steps
- Slice the tomatoes into thick wedges and fan them on a plate.
- Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the top.
- Wait 5 minutes for the syrup to draw, then serve chilled.
Swaps
A tiny pinch of salt makes the sweetness rounder. Honey works for a fancier version.
More 10-minute dishes
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The default weeknight soup of a billion people: 7 minutes, 4 ingredients, zero knife work.
Blanched Greens with Oyster Sauce (Bai Zhuo)
The Cantonese technique that makes any green vegetable taste like a $18 restaurant side.