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What Does Egg Foo Young Mean?
Egg Foo Young is a Chinese-style omelet filled with ground pork and various vegetables. Sometimes misspelled as “egg foo yung”, it is a staple in American Chinese food, and its name comes from the Cantonese language.
“Foo Young” means lotus, as it is said the dish resembles that of a lotus flower.
In this recipe tutorial, you will learn how to make an authentic version of this popular egg dish.
A long time ago, when I first set my foot on the US soil for higher education, I went straight to the middle America. I flew from Malaysia and arrived in the state of Iowa. After touching down, I went straight to a Chinese restaurant and the first dish I ordered was Egg Foo Young.
When the dish came, I was shocked to find out that the American Chinese version was puffy and doused in a thick brown sauce. There was a thick filling of vegetables inside the eggs.
The taste was very bland and unappetizing. That was my first (sad) encounter with American Chinese food.
What Is the Difference between Egg Foo Young and Omelette?
The difference is the ingredients that are set in the egg mixture, or the filling. Furthermore, the omelet is cooked until the egg mixture is slightly brown. The egg foo young is cooked until it is golden brown, which makes it “overcooked” for omelet standards.
How to Make Egg Foo Young
Despite my horrible experience, many people love this egg dish. So I developed this Egg Foo Young recipe. I filled the omelet with ground pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts.
I combined the seasonings with the eggs, so there is no brown sauce on top of the eggs.
Egg Foo Young Gravy
If you are looking for the Americanized egg foo young with the brown gravy, please trust me on this. You do not need the gravy sauce.
If you are wondering if egg foo young is healthy for you, it’s not if you have the sodium-laden and starch-heavy gravy. My recipe is healthier and more delicious, I assure you.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 264 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Egg Foo Young
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 2 oz (60g) bean sprouts
- 2 oz (60g) ground pork
- 4 medium-sized shrimp (peeled and cut into small pieces)
- 1 scallion (cut into small rings)
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine (optional)
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 pinch sugar
- 3 dashes white pepper
- 3 tablespoons oil
Instructions
- Crack the eggs into a bowl, beat with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients into the egg mixture, stir to combine well. Make sure the oyster sauce is fully dissolved in the egg mixture.
- Heat up a wok or a pan on high heat. Add the oil. When the oil is fully heated, ladle the egg mixture into the pan. Make sure that you keep the diameter of the omelet to about 4-5 inches (10cm-12cm) wide.
- Use a pair of chopsticks to transfer the beansprouts and other ingredients to the middle of the omelet. The omelet should be thicker in the center. Let the omelet set, for about 3 minutes before flipping it over.
- Fry the omelet until both sides are golden brown and nicely puffed up. Repeat the same and use the remaining egg mixture to make a total of 3 omelets. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
The last time I had egg foo young in a Chinese resturant I got food poisoning, so I only eat egg foo young I make at home and your recipe is my favorite. When I make it for others they rave about it.
Awesome David and you don’t need the brown sauce. :)
Amazing job with this recipe, so easy to follow and delicious!
Mmm, Mmmm, Mmmmm dee-li-shush-niss! I NEVER thought I’d get (at home) Asian food right. Not only is this recipe delicious, it’s also very easy to make.
This was surprisingly, “off the chain good!” And you’re right Rasa, no need for the “brown sauce.” I must admit I like the brown sauce. I like the Cantonese egg foo young I get at the Chinese restaurant here in Humble, TX called Jade Palace (although they used to cook it better than lately). But honestly, I have no need to return to Jade’s…your take is a winner!
Hi Tonitia, thanks for trying my egg foo young recipe. :)
My mom always used a brown gravy she made with molasis water and a few shots of soy sauce
No pork. However shrimp sounds good
Bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts
And eggs
Lay it on a bed of rice. But it was a sweet meal not salty.
The next morning I’d take the leftover rice add milk sugar and cinnamon and make rice pudding.
No point in letting the rice go to waste.
I vote for Brown Sauce and all of its Sodium Laden Goodness..
I also lived in Tanjong Bungah … usual protein in filling was crab, i.e foo young hai, but also had with prawns or chicken.
Hi Brian, but never with sauce!
Like your website. When preparing this Egg Foo Young, which ingredients make up the egg mixture and which are added with chopsticks after the eggs have begun setting-up in the wok/pan? Instructions say this makes 3, so about how much of the egg mixture is used for each one?
You just cook everything all at once. You don’t cook separately for each person.
He is asking home much egg mixture per patty. I use 1/3 of a cup.
when I lived on Penang one of my favourite dishes was crab foo yung; the omelettes were generally made as you described yet there was always a light clear sauce, like maybe a thickened stock or something like japanese dashi, which took the already tasty omelettes to a new level. I still make with the sauce as it seems lacking if without.
Crab foo yung in Penang shouldn’t have any sauce. I have never had any egg dishes with sauce in Penang. Are you sure? All foo yung dishes in Malaysia is dry.
Very sure, and often a little thinner so the omelettes would be stacked similar to pancakes. The sauce was not gluggy or such that the omelettes were drowning in it but translucent and light. Very popular in the restaurants around the northern side of the island from Pulau Tikus to Tanjong Bungah. Our amah also made them this way.
That’s very strange because I live in Tanjung Bungah and Green Lane areas and I have never seen egg foo young with sauce in Penang ever. It might be a different egg dish you are talking about and not Egg Foo Young. Egg Foo Young is never stacked when served in Penang or Malaysia. You can check this link for the egg foo young in Penang. Never a sauce and never stacked up, ever: https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS766US766&biw=1334&bih=759&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=O7QBW_OCD8vqjwS14r-4Cg&q=%E8%8A%99%E8%93%89%E8%9B%8Bpenang&oq=%E8%8A%99%E8%93%89%E8%9B%8Bpenang&gs_l=img.3…28760.37486.0.39812.15.15.0.0.0.0.159.1557.8j7.15.0….0…1c.1j4.64.img..1.0.0….0.qI1xMS7N5KY
What type of oil do you use…peanut, vegetable, or sesame…thank you.
Can you give us the recipe you would eat before your
egg foo young became Americanized? Please!