Make this homemade crispy and fluffy Chinese egg omelette, Egg Foo Young at home in under 15 minutes. Add veggies or meat of your choice to make it super filling.
If you love to make eggs for breakfast, here are some more recipes for you – Perfect Scrambled Eggs, Healthy Spinach Egg White Muffins, Akuri, Mushroom Omelette, and Egg White Scramble.
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About This Recipe
Egg Foo Young is a Chinese version of an egg omelette. Also spelled as egg fooyung, egg foo yong, egg foo yung, or egg fu yung, it is an egg dish found in Chinese Indonesian, British Chinese, and Chinese American cuisine.
Literally meaning “Hibiscus egg”, Egg Foo Young is prepared with beaten eggs and most often minced ham and is a great option for a healthy filling breakfast. The cooked eggs have a crispy edge and are super fluffy from the inside.
This recipe was invented to use up all the leftovers of the kitchen, which includes veggies and meats and thus this can be prepared with a variety of vegetables as well as meat.
It may be made with various vegetables such as bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, cabbage, mushrooms, spring onions, and water chestnuts. Roast pork, shrimp, chicken, beef, or lobster meat can also be added to this.
In America, it is served with brown sauce or gravy. A tangy sauce that instantly takes the dish to another level.
The vegetables in the eggs, the slight hint of umami flavor from the soy sauce, and sesame oil, this omelette is different. This one is definitely a favorite breakfast dish in any Chinese restaurant,
This dish is,
- Easy to make
- Non-Vegetarian
- Tasty
- A popular takeout dish
- Perfect for everyday breakfast
- A twist to your regular Omelette
Ingredients
Eggs – Eggs make the base of this recipe of homemade egg fooyung. It’s mostly hen’s eggs but you can use any other egg too.
Vegetables – Bean sprouts, mushrooms, spring onion, garlic, etc are added to the eggs to give it a nice crunch and flavor.
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. So if you are short of one of the mentioned veggies, just swap it with whatever you gave at hand.
Shrimp – I have added chopped shrimp to the recipe. You can add any meat of your choice like beef, chicken, pork, etc.
Other Ingredients – Other than the above ingredients, I have used red chili flakes, salt, and a dash of Homemade Chinese Five Spice. You can even use store-bought Chinese five-spice if you can’t make one at home.
Sesame Oil – The omelette is finally fried in hot oil. I have used sesame oil as it gives a very traditional Chinese flavor to it but you can use oil of your choice.
Sauce – This Omelette is served with a delicious sauce that is made with Chicken Broth, Soy sauce, Corn Flour, Rice Vinegar, and Sesame Oil.
This thick sauce has a umami flavour due to the use of soy sauce, which adds a delicious taste when poured on the omelette.
How to make Egg Foo Young?
Start by making the gravy. To make the gravy, mix 1 and ½ tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water in a small bowl and make a slurry. Add all the ingredients like 1 cup chicken broth, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp sesame oil, and the cornstarch slurry to a small saucepan.
Cook for 4-5 minutes on medium heat until the sauce thickens. Keep stirring continuously to avoid the formation of lumps. Remove the pan from heat and let the sauce cool down.
To make the omelette, break 8 large eggs into a medium-size mixing bowl. Whisk them using a wire whisk.
Add 1 tsp minced garlic, 10-12 medium-sized chopped shrimps, 3-4 sliced button mushrooms, ¼ cup chopped bean sprouts, ¼ cup chopped green onions, salt to taste, ¼ tsp five-spice powder, and 1 tsp red chili flakes to the bowl 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 ¼th of the egg mixture into the pan and cook on medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes, until the omelet is crisp and browned from the bottom.
Flip it using a rubber spatula and fry from the other side as well. Remove on the serving plate.
Pour the sauce over the eggs and serve hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
The egg is high in protein and it is also loaded with vegetables, and thus with a little change in the frying technique, it can be considered healthy for people following a low fat, low carb, and high protein diet.
Use less oil to fry the eggs.
The main difference between the two is the set of ingredients mixed in the eggs. While Omelette generally uses only onion, tomato, green chilies, and basic spice powders, Egg Fooyung uses garlic, various veggies, meat, five-spice powder, and red chili flakes.
Omelette is cooked in less oil while Egg Foo Yung is fried in oil.
Also, Omelette is just cooked and served as it is or with Toast, but Egg Foo Young is served with a delicious sauce.
Pro Tips by Neha
The eggs get cooked in under 2-3 minutes. So if you’re adding veggies or meat that will not get cooked in this time, then make sure to cook them before adding it to the eggs.
The crispy and fluffy texture of this omelet comes from frying in slightly more oil. If you reduce the amount of oil, the edges will not be crispy and the omelet will be flatter.
Fry on medium high heat for crispy edges and rich flavor.
Variations
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 vegetables like mushrooms, celery, green onions, peas, carrot, bell pepper, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, and bamboo shoots.
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.
Pork, Beef, or Chicken Mince – Add the mince directly to 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.
Shredded Chicken – You can also add boiled or grilled shredded chicken to the egg mixture.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve it on its own for a high protein breakfast or along with a bed of white steamed rice for a delicious Chinese meal.
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Recipe Card
Egg Foo Young Recipe
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 and ½ tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
For the omelet
- 8 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 10-12 medium size shrimps (cleaned, deveined, and chopped into small pieces)
- 3-4 sliced button mushrooms
- ¼ cup chopped bean sprouts
- ¼ cup chopped green onions
- salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon Chinese five spice
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Start by making the gravy. To make the gravy, mix 1 and ½ tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water in a small bowl and make a slurry. Add all the ingredients like 1 cup chicken broth, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp sesame oil, and the cornstarch slurry to a small saucepan.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes on medium heat until the sauce thickens. Keep stirring continuously to avoid the formation of lumps. Remove the pan from heat and let the sauce cool down.
- To make the omelette, break 8 large eggs into a medium-size mixing bowl. Whisk them using a wire whisk.
- Add 1 tsp minced garlic, 10-12 medium-sized chopped shrimps, 3-4 sliced button mushrooms, ¼ cup chopped bean sprouts, ¼ cup chopped green onions, salt to taste, ¼ tsp five-spice powder, and 1 tsp red chili flakes to the bowl and mix well.
- Heat a 5-7 inch frying pan. Add 2 tbsp oil to the pan and let it heat.
- Once the oil is hot, pour ¼th of the egg mixture into the pan and cook on medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, until the omelet is crisp and browned from the bottom.
- Flip it using a rubber spatula and fry from the other side as well. Remove on the serving plate.
- Pour the sauce over the eggs and serve hot.
Shashi at Savory Spin
I’ve never made egg foo young so Im saving this recipe to try soon – thanks so much for sharing it.
Neha Mathur
You will love it.