Itlog na Maalat at Kamatis (Salted Egg and Tomato Salad)

Method

1. Confirm the salted eggs are sold fully cooked. A salt-cured but raw egg must first be cooked thoroughly according to its supplier instructions, then cooled promptly; it cannot go straight into this salad.
2. Wash the tomatoes, remove the stem cores and cut into 2 cm pieces. Let very watery tomatoes drain in a sieve for 5 minutes without pressing them, so the salad does not become soupy.
3. Peel the cooked eggs and check carefully for shell fragments. Cut each egg into eight pieces with a clean knife. Keep the yolks in fairly large pieces because they break down quickly when stirred.
4. For a milder onion flavour, rinse the chopped red onion briefly in cold drinking water and drain it very well. Combine onion, vinegar or calamansi, pepper and spring onion in a serving bowl.
5. Fold in the tomatoes, then add the egg pieces. Turn gently just two or three times with a broad spoon; the aim is to distribute the egg without mashing its yolk into a paste.
6. Taste a spoonful containing both tomato and egg. Add the optional extra teaspoon of acid only if needed. Do not add salt automatically: the salted eggs should provide the main seasoning.
7. Serve immediately alongside grilled fish, fried meat or rice. Keep refrigerated if preparing ahead, ideally storing cut tomatoes and egg separately and combining shortly before the meal.