Egg Foo Young is a Chinese Style Omelette which is crispy from the outside and is loaded with veggies like mushroom, bean sprouts and meats like shrimp, ham, beef etc. It’s a fav Chinese takeout dish and can be easily made at home. Here is how to make Egg Foo Young Recipe at home.
You might have eaten an omelet at home for a zillion times. But, have you ever tried, fluffy, crisp, golden brown Cantonese style Omelet: Egg Foo Young that’s popular across Chinese restaurants?
Egg Foo Young is a basic, Chinese authentic dish that is prepared using egg mixture, vegetables and you may even complement it with chicken, pork, beef or shrimp.
Let me tell you more about this recipe. Because you know what? Since the time I tasted it at a Chinese takeout, I have simply fallen in love with the concept of this dish.
I make Scrambled Egg Whites and often pair my homemade omelet with green onions, roast pork sometimes. However, not even in my wildest thoughts have I served it with bean sprouts or eaten it crisp with a luscious, tasty sauce.
And that’s exactly what Egg Foo Young Recipe lets you create. Something different. Something out of the box.
What is Egg Foo Young?
You could call Egg Foo Young a Chinese version of an omelet. If a healthy breakfast meal is on your mind, then it is a great bet!
“Egg foo young, also spelled egg fooyung, egg foo yong, egg foo yung, or egg fu yung) is an omelette dish found in Chinese Indonesian, British Chinese, and Chinese American cuisine. The name comes from the Cantonese language. Egg foo young is derived from fu yung egg slices, a mainland Chinese recipe from Guangdong.
Literally meaning “Hibiscus egg”, this dish is prepared with beaten eggs and most often minced ham. It may be made with various vegetables such as bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, sliced cabbage, spring onions, mushrooms, and water chestnuts. When meat is used as an ingredient, a choice of roast pork, shrimp, chicken, beef, or lobster may be offered.
In Chinese Indonesian cuisine, it is known as fu yung hai, sometimes spelled as pu yung hai. The omelette is usually made from the mixture of vegetables such as carrots, bean sprouts, and cabbages, mixed with meats such as crab meat, shrimp, or minced chicken. The dish is served in sweet and sour sauce with peas.
In Western countries, the dish usually appears as a well-folded omelette with the non-egg ingredients embedded in the egg mixture. In America, it may be covered in or served with sauce or gravy.” – Wikipedia
What are the ingredients in Egg Foo Young?
Eggs make the base of this recipe of homemade egg foo young. It’s mostly hen’s eggs but you can use any other egg too.
Bean sprouts, mushrooms, spring onion, garlic etc is added to the eggs to give it a nice crunch and flavour.
This dish is one of those Clean your Refrigerator kind of dish, where you can toss in all the leftovers into the eggs and cook it into an omelette.
I have added chopped shrimp in the recipe. You can add any meat of your choice like beef, pork, chicken etc.
Add a bit of soy sauce for the perfect Umami flavour and a dash of homemade Chinese Five Spice goes a long way.
The omelette is finally fried in hot oil. I have used sesame oil as it gives a very traditional Chinese flavour to it but you can use oil of your choice.
Variations of Egg Foo Young
You can make this recipe with only vegetables or add meat of your choice like shrimps, ham, chicken, beef, pork, lobster, sausage etc.
Vegetables – Add vegetable like peas, carrot, beans, capsicum, mushroom, water chestnut, spring onion etc
With Shrimp – Add chopped cleaned shrimp in the egg mixture and cook as mentioned. If you are using small shrimp, you can use them whole as well.
With Pork, Beef or Chicken Mince – Add the mince directly in the egg mixture. The heat will cook the meat while the omelette is cooking.
If not using mince but the meat, make sure to cook it beforehand otherwise it may be raw at the end.
With Shredded Chicken – You can also add boiled or grilled shredded chicken in the egg mixture.
How to make Egg Foo Young?
You make this recipe in two steps. First, make egg mixture using garlic, shrimps, mushrooms, eggs, bean sprouts and other mentioned ingredients. Take oil in a skillet and then fry this blend. Ensure to take more oil than the usual omelet recipe because you will fry it this time and not simply cook.
Later, you have to make Egg Foo Young Gravy or the sauce for this dish. The sauce is very easy to prepare. You just need to heat a pan and add sesame oil with soy sauce, chicken broth, corn flour, rice vinegar. Cook this mix till the sauce thickens.
That’s it. With the crisp egg and shrimp base ready, you just need to pour a spoonful of sauce on it and Shrimp Egg Foo Young is ready to go on the table.
Not that it is very simple to make but it is also a delicious alternative to sunny side up or the routine omelet. Plus, it tastes “Mama Mia!”. Make this sizzling dish that keeps luring that Chinese, American and Indian inside you soon then? What say?
Egg Foo Young Gravy
In American Chinese takeout, this dish is served topped with a silky smooth gravy which is super easy to make and takes the taste of this omelette to another high.
It is made by cooking chicken stock along with some soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil and then thickening it with cornflour.
However, topping the omelette with gravy is totally optional.
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How to make Egg Foo Young Step by Step
Whisk eggs in a bowl.
Add garlic, shrimps, mushrooms, bean sprouts, spring onion greens, salt, five spice powder and red chilli flakes and mix well.
Heat a 5-7 inch frying pan. Add 2 tbsp oil in the pan and let it heat.
Once the oil is hot, pour 1/4th of the egg mixture in the pan and cook on medium low heat for 3-4 minutes, until the egg is crisp and browned from the bottom.
Flip and fry from other side as well. Remove on the serving plate.
For the sauce, mix corn flour with 2 tbsp water and make a slurry. Add all the ingredients in a pan.
Cook for 4-5 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Pour the sauce over the eggs and serve hot.
Egg Foo Young Recipe
Egg Foo Young
Egg Foo Young is a Chinese Style Omelette which is crispy from the outside and is loaded with veggies like mushroom, bean sprouts and meats like shrimp, ham, beef etc. It's a fav Chinese takeout dish and can be easily made at home.
Ingredients
- 8 Eggs
- 1 tsp garlic Minced
- 10-12 Shrimps Cleaned and Chopped
- 1/4 cup Bean Sprouts Chopped
- 1/4 cup Spring Onion Greens Chopped
- Salt to taste
- 1/4 tsp Chinese Five Spice
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Flakes
- Oil for Frying
For the Sauce
- 1 cup Chicken Broth
- 2 tsp Soy Sauce
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp Corn Flour
- 1 tsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
Instructions
Whisk eggs in a bowl.
Add garlic, shrimps, mushrooms, bean sprouts, spring onion greens, salt, five spice powder and red chilli flakes and mix well.
Heat a 5-7 inch frying pan.
Add 2 tbsp oil in the pan and let it heat.
Once the oil is hot, pour 1/4th of the egg mixture in the pan and cook on medium low heat for 3-4 minutes.
Flip and fry from other side as well.
Remove on the serving plate.
For the sauce
Mix corn flour with 2 tbsp water and make a slurry.
Add all the ingredients in a pan and cook for 4-5 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Pour the sauce over the eggs and serve hot.
Recipe Notes
Classic egg foo young is often served with white rice and a brown gravy made from ingredients like chicken broth, soy sauce and cornstarch.
You can add vegetables like peas, chopped carrots, mushroom, water chestnuts or bell peppers in this recipe.
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