The Chinese New Year is right around the corner and I figured that that was the perfect excuse to pull our some Chinese recipes! On the top of my list was egg foo young which is a Chinese omelette that is stuffed with vegetables, served on rice and topped with a simple and yet tasty gravy. The base of egg foo young is normally vegetables and bean sprouts, cabbage, onions, water chestnuts etc. are commonly used but you can include pretty whatever vegetables you like. (Making egg foo young is a great way to clean out the fridge!) Meats can also be included and common ones include ham, shrimp, pork, beef and/or chicken but you can easily keep it vegetarian by sticking with just the vegetables and padding them out with mushrooms never hurts. All of the ingredients are held together by, you guessed it, eggs! Once the ‘batter’ has been made it is fried until golden brown in a pan and the cooked eggs hold everything together.
You could eat the egg young foo as it is but it is usually served over rice and it is topped with a gravy made from broth that is seasoned with soy sauce among other things and it is thickened with a bit of cornstarch. I like to garnish the egg foo young with green onions, cilantro and topping it off with some of the things that are in it makes it look all the better.
I really went to town with the egg foo young this week starting with a shrimp version:
Then moving on to a mushroom egg foo young:
Egg foo young reminds me a lot of okonomiyaki or a Japanese pancake so I served some of my leftovers okonomiyaki style topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayo, katsuboshi, crumbled nori and green onions for a tasty treat!
Of course the leftovers are also good in a sandwich which is called St Paul’s sandwich and in addition to the egg foo young it includes lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo. I could not resist adding some of the leftover gravy to the sandwich to add even more flavour!
Egg Foo Young
Egg foo young is a Chinese omelette that is packed full of vegetables and sometimes meat, and it is commonly served over rice and smothered in a simple and yet tasty gravy.
ingredients
- 3/4 cup bean sprouts
- 1/4 white onion, diced
- 1/2 cup zucchini, grated
- 1/4 cup carrot, grated
- 3/4 cup bok choy or spinach, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced or shrimp or meat of choice
- 1 small clove garlic, grated
- 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup broth
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 handful cilantro, chopped
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon oil
directions
- Mix the bean sprouts, onion, zucchini, carrot, bok choy, mushrooms, garlic, ginger and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
- Bring the broth to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer adding the soy sauce, rice wine and mirin.
- Mix the cornstarch into the water, add it to the gravy and simmer until it thickens.
- Mix in the sesame oil reduce the heat to low to keep it warm while you cook the omelettes.
- Squeeze any excess liquid from the vegetables, drain and mix with the cilantro and eggs.
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Pour 1/3 cup of the mixture into the pan and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side. Note: If the egg starts to spread out, push it back in with a spatula.
- Serve over steamed rice and top with the gravy and extra vegetables if desired.
Goodness. This looks delicious. I have a weakness for Chinese food.
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I will be making this. My daughter will be in heaven. She just told me tonight that as soon she has her own place she will only cook Asian food. Great recipe (like always)!
I love, love, love egg foo young. I cannot wait to give this recipe a try. Your shrimp and mushroom versions look delicious. So hungry right now!
Oh, that looks good. Definitely giving this one a shot. Thank you!
your recipes are always so creative and delicious, this dish looks fantastic
Really appetizing! A tasty dish.
Cheers,
Rosa
Egg Foo Young in a mushroom sauce was always my absolute favorite Chinese dish when we I was a kid! My Dad used to make it as part of his "healthier, not take out" Chinese food repertoire and I ADORED it! Thank you for resurrecting this with so many ideas for toppings/serving to shake things up!
Egg foo young was something my dad ALWAYS ordered when we got Chinese food. And he never let us try it. Except for the gravy. I could have drank that gravy. Can't wait to try this!
Choosy Beggar Tina: Speaking of mushroom gravy, add a few dried shiitake mushrooms to the broth while simmering it to get an excellent mushroom flavour.
Can't wait to try this! Thank you!
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So many good ideas for Egg Foo Young, Kevin. Love the photos, too.
This is a keeper. I, also always feel like Chinese food around the new year. Funny, how that works. Great pics and ideas, too.
Kevin:
Now this looks appetizing!
Unlike any egg foo young I have ever seen.
The only egg foo young I have ever seen, is a concoction of vegetables chinese style with small pieces of something resembling scrambled eggs.
To me totally un appetizing…… now yours is a different story.
Charlie
This is one of my fave foods, but have yet to make it. THANK YOU! I think I'm making it on Sunday!
Mmmm… looks delicious. Great presentation.
This looks and sounds delicious plus it's an original idea for dinner. Awesome!
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Beautiful and I'm sure delicious!
I have this on my menu for this week- I'm really looking forward to it! I've never had it before, and with just a gluten-free soy sauce switch up it's friendly for my diet. Thanks, Kevin!
I do like foo yung – haven't tried making it myself, although I make other omlettes & fritattas often enough, so I should give it a try 🙂
Mouth watering!! Must make this soon.
Egg foo young has been on my bucket list. I"m pinning.
You remind me that CNY can have simple dishes like this too! What a lovely attempt- and I can have this any day for dinner.
That looks SO good!
I am hopelessly in love with Chinese food, but sadly do not eat it enough, something I hope to fix this year. This recipe looks like a good place to start!! Thank you!
Wow. This looks so good. I love to try new recipes! I never made egg foo young so excited to try it!
Kevin, I love this recipe! I've been on an egg kick lately, so any recipe involving them sounds really good to me. And of course I like how it incorporates Asian flavors!
I love egg foo young. I don't know why I never think of making it at home. This may change my mind!
ghgThe recipe here sound scrumptious, I am going to try a couple out this weekend for a family birthday party. love your blog. Keep on cooking.
Thanks for the recipe. The sauce was great!
Egg Foo Yung is one of my favorites. I lived in Hong Kong for 6 months and never say it there! But, I've been making it for years – can't wait to try yours! Thanks, Kevin
This looks wonderful. However, I don't understand direction #5: "drain and mirin the eggs along with the cilantro."
Is this where all the veggies and eggs and everything else is mixed together, or do you mix the eggs with the mirin first?
Thanks for your help!
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TSannie: Sorry about that, that was a copy and paste error. I cleaned up the instructions in the recipe.
I always order Egg Foo Young when I eat Chinese food. I haven't tried to cook my own in a long time but I'd like to try your recipe. It looks delicious!
Question. You made a recipe correction but I am still a little confused. Do you drain the veggies and mix them with the eggs and then cook or pour eggs in pan and top with veggies? This sounds wonderful. Just had some organic bok choy shared with me yesterday and will use it in this recipe tonight. Yum
Anonymous: You drain the veggies, mix them with the egg and then cook. Enjoy!
Thank You Kevin – I had the Egg Foo Young for dinner this evening and it was beyond wonderful. Thanks for the additional instruction and thank you so much for sharing. All these recipes look yummy.
The Chinese New Year is as good an excuse as any to make some delicious food. I've never tried making egg foo young before, though. I've liked it every time I've had it at restaurants, so maybe I should try it at home. It sounds like a nice way to get some veggies in. http://www.rosebowlrestaurant.ca/menu.html
Kevin, I’ve made this a few times now and it’s great every time. Thank you for sharing this! It’s so simple and tastes as good as it does in restaurants.
this recipe has been on your website for 10 years, and i am just seeing it. (my love of closet cooking only began @ 5 yrs ago, but i am so glad i found you!) i have just invited myself to my brother’s house for dinner later this week, and volunteered to make this in place of the bang bang shrimp he likes for me to make. i think i will be better off trying it at home first (more for me to eat. 😉 that way). i cannot wait to make my own shrimp egg foo yung – the last time i ordered it from the local chinese eatery that i usually frequent it was a real disappointment. thank you, kevin!