No Worries — It’s a Chinese Omelet

Whenever my family orders Chinese takeout, they know my order—Egg Foo Young! I love the complex flavor and texture of a dish you need to eat with a fork. I never thought this was approachable in my kitchen, but then I saw a recipe and realized it’s making an omelet with a few extra Chinese ingredients.

If you love omelets, this is a marvelous way forward.

There are many ways to serve foo young – it’s a great way to clear out the veggie bin and toss in some leftover protein. Many times I skip making the gravy and just use a prepared sauce like ponzu [Japanese], or hoisin sauce mixed with equal parts creamy peanut butter

SERVES 3 TO 4

INGREDIENTS: For raw protein use ground raw meat, diced raw shrimp, or mushrooms. If you have leftover, cooked protein, cut into bite size pieces. For veggies, plan on 1-1/2 cups, chopped — [mung bean sprouts are a part of most foo young recipes], shredded carrots, cabbage, sliced snow peas.

• eggs – 6
• protein – 6 oz, bite sized pieces
• garlic – 2 tsp, or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• ginger – 2 tsp, grated
• scallions – 2 TBS, minced white portion, [green segment reserved for garnish]
• oyster sauce – 1 TBS, [or soy sauce]
• toasted sesame oil – 1/2 tsp
• salt – 1/2 tsp, [to taste]
• pepper – 1/4 tsp
• VEGGIES: 1-1/2 cups [I used some or all of the following]
  • mung bean sprouts
  • cabbage, shredded
  • carrots, shredded
  • snow peas, thinly sliced
• oil, neutral – 1/4 to 1/2 cup, for shallow frying

GARNISH:, scallion greens, toasted sesame seeds

I like to cut pieces and dip into a sauce as a quick way to eat egg foo young. The traditional gravy [recipe] takes almost the same amount of time as these omelets!

There is flavor in those foo youngs!

INSTRUCTIONS: Mis en place [everything precut and ready at the stove] is the way of Chinese cooking.

1. Prep the ingredients
2. In a bowl beat the eggs, until just blended—don’t over beat
3. Add all the ingredients except the cooking oil
4. Pre heat a large skillet or wok and add enough oil to about an 1/8 inch deep in the pan. Bring oil temp. up until just beginning to smoke [test by adding a drop of mixture to the oil and when it instantly bubbles; you’re ready
5. Add 1/3 cup of mixture to one section of the pan; if there is room, add others, but don’t crowd. While the egg cooks you can spoon some of the hot oil over it to cook the center. Cook 2-3 minutes—check to see that the bottom is golden, then flip and cook a couple minutes more
6. Place cooked foo young on a wire rack with some toweling, keep warm
7. Continue to cook the remaining foo young
8. Serve with a sauce, sliced scallion tops, and toasted sesame seeds [opt]

Lay on wire rack, flipping once to remove oil on top

Recipe adapted by B. Hettig from several