Comforting egg foo young is served with leftover homemade char siu, fresh shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, and green onion. It is a classic and popular Chinese dish that is trendy in the Cantonese area.
Usually, this type of egg omelet is pan-fired with other side ingredients and then served over rice with a gravy sauce. Egg foo young with steamed rice (芙蓉煎蛋饭) was a popular quick launch in Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s as a quick launch or dinner.
Side Ingredients in Egg Foo Young
The side ingredient list for egg foo young can be highly diversified based on what you have left in your fridge. But we have some best matches and recommendations, including leftover char siu(Homemade char siu recipe), green onion, bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushroom shreds.
The ingredients added to the whisked egg are not fixed. For example, using baby shrimp or other leftover roasted meat to replace char siu is okay. Bean sprouts are usually used to replace winter bamboo shoots because they have similar crunchy textures and are much easier to find.
In my egg foo young recipe, homemade char siu, green onion, bean sprouts, and carrots. Other egg-foo young recipes may require stirring and frying the side ingredients before mixing them with the egg liquid. This step is only necessary when some side ingredients, like uncooked meat shreds or sausages, require much longer cooking time. Since we are using easy-to-cook ingredients in this recipe, there is no need to bother ourselves with an extra step.
I highly recommend frying one egg foo young pancake using two eggs each time for the best result.
Chinese brown sauce
Most egg foo young is matched with an easily thickened brown sauce or gravy sauce, sometimes called egg foo young sauce. With the savory and sweet sauce, the steamed rice below can improve to the next level.
Pan-frying vs deep-frying
Egg foo young can be either pan-fried or deep-fried. The deep-frying version is much puffier and even crispier than the pan-fried version. But the latter method brings a healthier and more convenient egg foo young. You can try both methods and see what your favorite method is.
There is nothing special about pan frying, but we must finish with a scoop for the deep frying method. First, brush some oil on the scoop, then heat the oil to the right temperature. Then, dip the scoop into the oil and let it stay for 10 to 15 seconds until it forms the basic shape.
Then remove the egg cake from the scoop and let it deep-fry for another 10 seconds or until golden brown.
Step by Step Instruction
Make the brown sauce
Let’s make the sauce first before we start making the egg foo young. Start by mixing the cornstarch with water. Pour light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce, as well as salt and pepper, into a pot. Start with middle to slow fire, and then stir as you heat the sauce until it reaches a consistency similar to oyster sauce.
Make the egg foo young
Mix all the ingredients with egg liquid.
I will recommend using a small casting pot for the best round shape. Fry until one side becomes golden brown, then turn over and fry the other. Once the two sides are fried golden brown, transfer the egg foo young to steamed rice and drizzle some brown sauce made in the beginning.
Egg Foo Young
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 inch carrot , cut into shreds
- 1 small chunk of leftover char siu , shredded
- 20 g bean sprouts
- 3 green onions , cut into 1-inch sections (front half)
- pinch of salt
- 4 tablespoons of cooking oil
- 2 tbsp. minced shrimp
Brown Sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth or water
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce + 1 tsp. dark soy sauce dark soy sauce can give the sauce a deeper color.
- 1 tbsp. corn starch
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. ground white peper
Instructions
Brown Sauce
- Let’s make the sauce before making the egg foo young. Start by mixing the cornstarch with water. Pour light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and salt and pepper into a pot. Start with a middle to-slow fire, then stir as you heat the sauce until it reaches a consistency similar to oyster sauce. Set aside and try to keep warm.
Egg Foo Young
- Prepare the ingredients by cutting all of them into shreds.
- Crack the eggs in a large bowl and then whisk; add a small pinch of salt and all the side ingredients. Combine well.
- Load the serving plate with steamed rice.
- I will recommend using a small casting pot for the best round shape. Fry until one side becomes golden brown, then turn over and fry the other. Once the two sides are fried golden brown, transfer the egg foo young to steamed rice and drizzle some brown sauce made in the beginning.
- Garnish chopped green onions and drizzle the brown sauce before serving.
Video
Nutrition
What to serve with
Although this may seem slightly dry after pan-frying, thanks to Susanne for her lovely suggestion about serving it with soup. You can serve it with a healthy egg drop soup or mushroom soup.
How very simple and well combined. Westerners would be a bit reluctant, though as it seems to be quite dry. Of course you serve tea along with it, but would you also offer soup?
Thanks Susanne for the lovely suggestions. We do serve egg foo young with simple soups such as vegetables soups, or egg drop soups. Savory soups are good partners with egg foo young.
Thanks Elaine for replying.
I’m getting the general idea now, We either serve separate dishes in order or combine them in one pot as stews (hotpot, if you like) whereas you serve several dishes at the same time.
Besides that, there are quite a few similarities in the way we combine ingredients.
Elaine, I didn’t know people on China ate egg foo young! I thought it was the invention of Chinese American fast food restaurants -where the ingredients are the same, but it’s deep fried.
Anyway, I couldn’t find an email for you and you asked that questions be left for you in the comments, so, here’s mine: How do you make wu gen chang wang? It’s one of my favorite restaurant dishes! I made it once, but can’t find a recipe anymore. Please help! Thanks!
Lovely! I normally make Spanish omlettes with loads of left-overs but this sounds great, too. I suppose most cuisines that use chicken meat as well have similar concepts to use up the eggs. I am also keen to try Chinese steamed eggs.
Looks really good. But, you have to cook char siu first or the dish is not complete. Not everyone has leftover char siu laying around…
Hi Mark,
Good suggestion. I skip this because I introduced how to make char siu in a previous post with a video too.
What is a char sui? I’m new in Chinese food cooking. I usually buy Chinese food.
Excellent! You Nailed it! I was a kitchen tech doing start ups Asian restaurant in Casino. They’d make me anything I wanted…So in the morning I’d request the egg foo young…..this recipe is exactly the same as the Asian chef. The char su shiitake mushrooms and homemade chicken broth is key. Doesn’t get any better. Thanks.
Thanks Dennis!
This version is my favorite too.
I’ve always ordered this dish when available.
I’ll be trying it this week.
Will let you know what we think.
Can I use arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch for the sauce?
Yes. Arrowroot starch works too.
I loved eating this since I was a child, now having said that not all egg foo young is created equal. I’ve been using this recipe for a very long time and I can easily say this is it! The BEST RECIPE ever!! Thank you for creating and posting all your recipes, they never fail.
Thank you Jen for this lovely feedback!! This one really make me a lovely Tuesday.
Great recipe! Thanks for sharing this delicious version of Egg Foo Young