Egg Foo Young with its sticky, flavorful, brown sauce topping is a favorite for many and it turns out that it’s so easy to make. I personally don’t have much history with this dish, only that I like it and I rarely ordered egg foo young out when we went to Chinese restaurants. It wasn’t that I did not like egg foo young, it was just that as a carnivore I was much more attracted to the chicken broccoli, chicken lo mein or the pork fried rice.
Now that I’m a vegetarian, egg foo young is looking pretty good and it really is astonishing how tasty it is and how easy it is to make!
It’s basically a Chinese omelette full of yummy fresh vegetables.
My history is obviously scarce with this dish and maybe yours is too but egg foo young has a rich history in the United States especially at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth starting with the Gold Rush in California.
Egg Foo Young, (also spelled egg fooyung, egg foo yong, egg foo yung, or egg fu yung) is an omelette dish found in Chinese Indonesian, British Chinese, and Chinese American cuisine. The name comes from the Cantonese language but dates back to the Gold Rush in California during the 19th century when people from all over the world came to seek their fortune.
Among them were Chinese immigrants from Canton who set up restaurants called “chow, chows,” which were initially catered to Chinese immigrants who sought the comfort of their home food. While Chinese immigrants were known for their hard work and tasty food in these early makeshift restaurants, many Americans were skeptical about eating their food.
Eager to attract American clients, it is said that Chinese cooks disguised the foreign flavors with savory sauces and golden fried dishes. Thus begins the popularity of Chinese American cuisine, which later spread to the east coast and became very popular.
http://meljoulwan.com/2013/04/20/egg-foo-yong/
https://time.com/4211871/chinese-food-history/
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup of carrot shavings or finely chopped carrots
1 cup of cabbage
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
salt
white pepper
hot red pepper, chopped (optional)
4 scallions, chopped
HOW TO MAKE EGG FOO YOUNG
1.Put all of the ingredients in a bowl:
shaved carrots
chopped cabbage
scallions
oyster sauce
soy sauce
salt and pepper
red pepper 🌶 (optional)
2. Turn the heat on high
3. Add 1/3 of egg mixture
4. turn heat down
5. Cook eggs for approximately 3 minutes
6. Turn over
7. Cook until done
8. Serve alone or with sauce
The recipe is from:
Watch “BETTER THAN TAKEOUT AND EASY – Egg Foo Young Recipe” on YouTube https://youtu.be/XVTJrkgW304
Egg foo young is not traditionally served with gravy but here in the United States, it is often deep fried and served with a generous portion of gravy on top.
See the recipe below:
EGG FOO YOUNG GRAVY
1 1/4 cup of vegetable broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tsp brown sugar
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbs rice vinegar
3 tbs cold water
HOW TO MAKE GRAVY
1.In a small saucepan combine vegetable broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and sesame oil and cook on low heat.
2. In a bowl, blend cornstarch and water.
3. Slowly whisk the mixture in to the sauce pan.
4. Continue stirring until sauce thickens and bubbles.
5. When done pour the sauce over the egg foo young and enjoy 😉
The gravy sauce recipe is from smalltownwoman. I just changed the chicken broth to vegetable broth.
