Egg Foo Yong

Egg foo yung, also spelled egg fu young or egg fuyung, is a Chinese American dish based on a Shanghai classic dish called fu yung egg slices. You could call Fu yung egg slices one of the earliest omelets in existence, invented long before the French coined the name omelet.

Fu Yung translates as lotus flower, and the original dish generally combined egg whites only, minced ham or chicken, and was either pan or deep-fried. See recipes below for an example of each. The deep fried egg foo yung will always come out noticeably fluffier, thicker and crispier. The high and quick heat of deep frying expands the egg foo young omelet with hot steam while frying and makes the texture very light. See photo below.

Another technique I found on the Internet is to pour the egg mixture into the wok with some hot oil. Add a generous spoonful of oil to the side of the wok. The edge of the egg pancake will start to bubble and immediately puff up to form a beautiful halo of crispy tendrils. Keep your spatula off from the pancake. Let the eggs mixture cook undisturbed over medium to low heat until the bottom side turns golden brown. Flip over and do the same for the other side.

An omelet is always cooked until the egg liquid is just set, or slightly brown on the surface. On the contrary, the surface of the Egg Foo Young is pan-fried until golden brown, which is considered overcooked by the standard of any other omelets. The egg becomes aromatic when it turns golden brown, and the inner part of the egg pancake is still soft and tender.

Modern egg foo yung uses the whole egg in most cases, producing an "omelet," or egg pancake, to which a small amount of meat and vegetables are added and is served with an oyster brown sauce, which should be savory, a little bit sweet and a little bit salty. Recipe for Egg Foo Young Gravy from https://thewoksoflife.com/

If Egg Foo Yong becomes brown too quickly, finish it by baking in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for a few minutes.

Garnish with green onion if desired, and serve with white rice and gravy.

*Do not expect the mixture to wait long. It will turn watery from the added ingredients, and should be used as soon as possible.

Shrimp Egg Foo Young
from https://thewoksoflife.com/

Shrimp Egg Foo Young was one of the most popular dishes at Sun Hing, my family’s Chinese restaurant from the 80s and 90s. We served a lunch special that came with two shrimp egg foo young patties and pork fried rice, and it was one of our most ordered items! You can serve the shrimp egg foo young with pork fried rice or plain white rice—we usually go the classic route, and eat it with plain rice.

As with many Americanized Chinese dishes, you can usually find choices of shrimp, pork, chicken, vegetables, and even tofu.

Velvet the Shrimp:
Combine the chopped shrimp with 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch. Set aside.

Make the Egg Foo Young Gravy:
In a medium pot or saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour to make a roux, along with the turmeric and paprika. Cook for 15-20 seconds.

Add the minced garlic and onion. Whisk for another 30 seconds. Whisk in the 3 cups (700ml) of the low-sodium chicken stock.

Bring the mixture to a simmer, and add the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper. The gravy should be slightly thickened from the roux.

Dissolve the 3 tablespoons of cornstarch in the remaining ¼ cup (60ml) of chicken stock to make a slurry. Slowly stir in two-thirds of the mixture. Let cook for 30 seconds, until the gravy is thick enough to coat a spoon. Add more of the cornstarch slurry if needed. Add more salt or soy sauce to your taste, but be careful not to over-salt the gravy. Cover and set aside.

Make the Egg Foo Young Batter:
In a wok or deep pot, preheat 6 cups of frying oil to 335-350°F (170-175°C). Use a digital read or candy thermometer to check the temperature––too high a temperature will result in burned Egg Foo Young patties, and too low a temperature will cause extra greasy patties or ones that fall apart! Don’t jump ahead to mixing the batter until your oil is close to the target temperature. Beating the eggs at the last minute will help form nice patties.

Now for the batter. Place the velveted shrimp into a mixing bowl with the diced onions, bean sprouts, eggs, sesame oil, scallions, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. Do not add any salt or seasonings to this mixture, or your Egg Foo Young patties may not hold together when frying!

Use a large soup ladle or hoak (a Chinese ladle that’s often used together with a Chinese spatula) to fold the mixture together until just combined. The eggs should look like they are slightly beaten and only just mixed with the rest of the ingredients. If you over-mix the eggs or mix the eggs too early, the whole mixture will become too watery, and will not form a patty during frying.

Cook the Egg Foo Young Omelets:
This recipe makes 6 patties. Using your ladle, carefully drop 2-3 separate scoops (about 3/4 cup) of the mixture into the wok for the first batch (depending on how many you can fit in your wok). The correct technique is to tilt your ladle close to the oil, and pour the mixture starting from the edge where the oil meets the wok. Pour it slowly, so the ladle barely touches the oil. If the ladle does touch the hot oil, the egg will cook while it’s still in the ladle, and it will stick. You won’t have a smooth drop for the next Egg Foo Young patty.

Let the patties fry for about 2 minutes, making sure the oil stays at 335-350°F (170-175°C). To speed up the cooking time, you can also use your wok spatula to gently spoon some hot oil on top of the uncooked patty. When each patty is solid and turning golden brown around the edges, use your wok spatula to turn them over in the same order that you dropped them into the oil.

After another 1-2 minutes, scoop out each patty with a wire strainer or Chinese spider, giving it a few gentle taps to remove excess oil. Place each patty on a wire rack over a sheet pan to drain. Repeat until all of your patties are cooked.

Serve!
Transfer the egg foo young patties from the cooling rack to a serving plate. (Ideally these are served individually, rather than on a big family-style platter, but either works so long as you dig in right away!) Pour some of the gravy over the top, and serve with steamed rice and additional gravy on the side.

Tips & Notes: Pan fried
If you’d rather not deep-fry the patties, you can pan-fry them. Heat a large cast iron skillet or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. If using cast iron, heat the pan just until it starts to smoke. This will create a non-stick surface after you add the oil.

Spread 1-3 tablespoons of oil to the pan (1 tablespoon per patty), and spoon the batter into the pan as if you were making pancakes—1-3 patties, depending on how many you can fit in your pan. Reduce the heat to medium, and flip after 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Cook for another 1-2 minutes, depending on how well done you like your eggs.

Repeat with the remaining patties (you can still get 6 large patties, or you can make them smaller if you like, to make flipping easier).

Egg Foo Yung
from http://www.saveur.com/, posted April 17, 2014

This lacy golden omelette with a filling of ground pork, shrimp, bean sprouts, and scallions was originally created as a special occasion dish. The chefs at Shun Lee West in Manhattan have a great trick for forming egg foo yung: They use a wok ladle to place the egg mixture into the oil so that it sets in the shape of the ladle's bowl.

For the Sauce
1 cup chicken stock
3 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
1 tbsp. dry sherry
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 1⁄2" pieces ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

For the Egg Foo Yung
1⁄2 lb. ground pork
3 tbsp. soy sauce
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1 1⁄2 tsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. dry sherry
1 tsp. plus 1 tbsp. sesame oil
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 tsp. canola oil, plus more for frying
6 oz. raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and finely chopped
1⁄2 cup water chestnuts, finely chopped, drained and squeezed dry
1⁄3 cup bean sprouts
1⁄3 cup sliced scallions, plus more for serving
6 eggs, beaten

Make the sauce: Bring stock, 3 tbsp. soy sauce, the oyster sauce, 1 tbsp. sherry, 1 tbsp. cornstarch, the garlic, and ginger to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over high heat. Cook, whisking, until thickened, 2-3 minutes; strain sauce and keep warm.

Make the Egg Foo Yung: Mix pork, 2 tbsp. soy sauce, 1 tbsp. cornstarch, the vinegar, 1 tsp. sherry, 1 tsp. sesame oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl; set aside for 10 minutes. Heat 1 tsp. canola oil in an 8" nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork mixture; cook, stirring and breaking up meat, until it is no longer pink, 3-4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pork to a bowl; set aside.

Pour canola oil into a 6-quart saucepan to a depth of 2". Heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 350°. [Use a digital instant-read or candy thermometer to check the temperature––too high a temperature will result in burned Egg Foo Young patties, and too low a temperature will cause extra greasy patties or ones that fall apart!]

Combine remaining soy sauce, cornstarch, and sesame oil, plus reserved [cooked] pork, the shrimp, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, scallions, eggs, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Using a ladle and working in batches, gently lower 1⁄2-cup amounts of egg mixture into oil; cook, flipping once, until omelettes are puffed and brown, 1 1⁄2-2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer omelettes to paper towels. Serve drizzled with reserved sauce and white rice; garnish with scallions.

Makes 8 omelettes