Ingredients :

• Pechay (bok choy) — Pechay is the Filipino version of bok choy, with firm white stems and large dark green leaves. In Asian grocery stores, classic bok choy is exactly the same. Choose some with tightly packed leaves, not yellowed, and firm stems that snap when you bend them. If you really can’t find anything, fresh spinach will do — but they cook even faster, thirty seconds is enough.
• Eggs — both kinds — The recipe uses twelve hard-boiled eggs for the body of the dish, and three beaten eggs drizzled into the hot sauce. It’s the beaten egg that creates the silky little threads in the sauce — don’t pour everything at once or you’ll get a big scrambled omelet. Pour slowly, in a circle, and let it set for a few seconds before stirring.
• Ripe tomatoes — Truly ripe tomatoes. Not hard supermarket tomatoes that release bland, tasteless water — Roma or plum tomatoes left at room temperature. To the touch, they should yield slightly under your fingers. They should almost crush themselves under the spoon after five minutes of cooking, and that’s what makes the sauce.
• Fish sauce (patis) — This is the liquid salt of this recipe, with an umami depth that ordinary salt doesn’t provide. Filipino patis is a bit milder than the Thai version, but Tiparos or Tra Chang work very well. One tablespoon, no more — the idea is to salt with finesse, not to make it smell like fish.