Egg Foo Young

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What Is Egg Foo Young

Egg Foo Young is a Chinese-style omelet filled with ground pork and various vegetables. Sometimes misspelled as “egg foo yung” or “fu yong,” it is a staple in American Chinese food, and its name comes from the Cantonese language.

“Foo Young” or 芙蓉 (fúróng) 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 and the best version of Egg Foo Young

A long time ago, when I first set foot on US soil for higher education, I went straight to middle America. I flew from Malaysia and arrived in the state of Iowa. After touching down, I dined at a Chinese restaurant, and the first dish I ordered was Egg Foo Young.

When the food arrived, I was shocked to find out that the American Chinese rendition was greasy and puffy, with a thick filling of vegetables inside the eggs, and doused in a thick and gloppy brown sauce. The taste was very bland and unappetizing. It was a major culinary culture shock, and alas, that was my first (sad) encounter with American Chinese food.

Difference Between Egg Foo Young And Omelette

Egg Foo Young and omelets differ in ingredients, cooking methods, appearance, texture, and cultural origins.

Egg Foo Young consists of beaten eggs mixed with vegetables including bean sprouts, shredded carrots, mushrooms, onions, and scallions, along with protein like shrimp, pork, and chicken. It’s fried until they puff up and turn golden brown in color, resembling a thick pancake. It’s commonly served with a savory Chinese brown sauce.

Omelets, on the other hand, are made by cooking beaten eggs in a skillet, then folding them over a filling of cheese, vegetables, and preserved meat such as ham. They are thinner in texture and there is no sauce doused on top of regular omelets.

Furthermore, Egg Foo Young is cooked until it is golden brown, with a slightly crispy and puffy exteriors. Omelets are softer, with a moist or creamy interior.

In short, egg foo young is an Americanized version of Chinese-style omelet, similar to shrimp omelet; it’s filled with an assortment of ingredients, seasoned with Chinese seasonings of soy sauce and oyster sauce.

Ingredients

My egg foo young recipe calls for the most basic ingredients as I believe in less is more.

• eggs
• bean sprouts
• ground pork – you want a bit of fat in the ground pork. A good ratio is 80% lean meat and 20% fat.
• shrimp
• Shaoxing wine – you may use Chinese rice wine, Japanese cooking sake, or dry sherry. If you cannot consume alcohol, skip it altogether.
• soy sauce and oyster sauce – two of the most important seasoning sauces in Cantonese cooking.

How To Make Egg Foo Young

The cooking process consists of four simple steps below:

Step 1. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients to the egg mixture and stir well to combine. Ensure that the oyster sauce is fully dissolved in the egg mixture.

Step 2. Heat a wok or pan on high heat. Add the oil. Once the oil is fully heated, ladle the egg mixture into the pan, ensuring that the diameter of the omelet is about 4-5 inches (10cm-12cm) wide.

Step 3. Use a pair of chopsticks to transfer the bean sprouts and other ingredients to the middle of the omelet, making it thicker in the center. Allow the omelet to set for about 3 minutes before flipping it over.

Step 4. Fry the omelet until both sides are golden brown and nicely puffed up. Repeat the process with the remaining egg mixture to make a total of 3 omelets. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Egg Foo Young Gravy

If you are looking for the Americanized egg foo young gravy recipe, please trust me on this: you do not need the brown sauce. If you are wondering if Chinatown egg foo young is healthy for you, it’s not if you have the sodium-laden and starch-heavy gravy.

The brown sauce is made with chicken broth or stock, seasoned with soy sauce, MSG, and thickened with cornstarch slurry. There is no nutrition in it, and all it does is make the eggs soggy, losing their original crisp texture.

My recipe presents this iconic egg dish in the authentic way, and it’s much healthier and more delicious than your Chinese takeout, I assure you.

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