Egg-You-Fun!

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

PLANNED OVERS: Egg Foo Young Lettuce Wraps

In the renewal kitchen, the riches of cooking keeps our minds and tummies looking to innovate. A major goal in cooksharing is to use glass storage containers so we can instantly see what’s in store for a future fixings.

Chop up planned over egg foo young and prep some ice cold iceberg or Boston bib lettuce. Gather some planned over starch, especially rice and minced, cooked veggies.

Create a sauce: one of my favorites is hoisin sauce and peanut butter.

Now you’re ready for a spectacular meal from planned-overs!

Egg Foo Young Lettuce Wraps

Recipe adapted by B. Hettig from several