04/02/2020

Egg Foo Yung: Chinese Style Omelette

Name: Egg Foo Yung: Chinese Style Omelette
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 large eggs; 1 tsp light soy sauce; 1 tsp Chinese rice wine; 1 tsp sesame oil; salt & pepper; 1 tbsp fat or oil (e.g. pork/chicken fat, groundnut/sunflower oil); half a small onion (finely chopped or sliced); 1 handful pak choi, cabbage or other greens (roughly shredded); 1 clove garlic (finely chopped or shredded); 50 g cooked meat e.g. ham, pork, chicken, beef (shredded (see Recipe Notes for vegetarian alternatives)); 1 tbsp coriander leaf (optional) (torn or roughly chopped); 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional); 60 ml chicken or vegetable stock (low salt if possible); 10 ml light soy sauce (approx half a tablespoon); 10 ml Chinese rice wine (approx half a tablespoon); 1 tsp sesame oil; black pepper (to taste); 0.5 tsp sugar (optional); chilli flakes or sweet chilli sauce (optional); 0.5 tsp cornflour; 2 tsp water

Egg Foo Yung is a quick Chinese-style omelette cooked rather like a pancake. Eaten on its own or part of a larger meal, I think Egg Foo Yung is even better with a savoury, tangy super-fast sauce poured over.

It’s great for using up leftover cooked meat too: shredded ham, pork, chicken or beef all work. For a vegetarian version, substitute mushrooms or beansprouts for the meat.

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CHINESE OR CHINESE-AMERICAN?

First off, how exactly should you spell Egg Foo Yung? Apart from that way, you might also see it as fu yung and foo young. The answer is, I really don’t know.

I also didn’t know if Egg Foo Yung was one of those Chinese-American dishes, like chop suey, that doesn’t really exist in China. But Ken Hom (for my generation of Brits, probably the person who introduced us to Chinese cooking) says that foo yung is a traditional Cantonese dish.

According to Hom, the original version is ‘a work of culinary art’. Its name is said to come from the word furong which means ‘egg white’ and is also used to describe the hibiscus flower.

At the time of writing, you can catch Ken Hom’s TV series ‘Chinese Cookery’ on the BBC iPlayer.

First aired in 1984, if you’ve the slightest interest in Chinese food, I really recommend it. Yes, he cooks lots of tasty, simple dishes. But there’s also segments filmed in Hong Kong which make fascinating viewing.

Highlights for me are the meat, fish and vegetable markets, an unbelievably dextrous example of hand pulling noodles, plus an insight into how ordinary Hong Kong people then ate at home.

EGG FOO YUNG

Even in the traditional version there are lots of different fillings for Egg Foo Yung. These might include ham, Chinese sausage, prawn, mushrooms and all manner of other vegetables.

I started making Egg Foo Yung as a quick and nutritious solitary weekday lunch. For the filling it was often just some onion, garlic and greens. When beating the eggs I’d add a splash of soy sauce and maybe some coriander leaf. Occasionally I’d add some leftover cooked meat like pork or beef.

But, after realising that Chinese cookery is a serious gap in my culinary knowledge, I then starting edging it towards the more traditional version with the inclusion of Chinese rice wine for instance.

THE CHINESE-AMERICAN ELEMENT

However, almost as soon as I headed in the direction of authenticity, I discovered a tweak that, while gorgeous, nudged it into that Chinese-American territory I thought I wanted to avoid.

The American Egg Foo Yung usually has a sauce or ‘gravy’ poured over it. Often sticky and sweet, it doesn’t sound good.

But I think it’s possible to have the best of both worlds. A couple of extra minutes’ work will give you a glossy sauce full of umami flavour which complements rather than detracts from the dish.

However, if you really don’t want the sauce, just the Egg Foo Yung will still be very, very good.

MAKING EGG FOO YUNG

Although I’ve called Egg Foo Yung an omelette as the main ingredient is eggs, you actually cook it on both sides like a pancake.

Authentically it would be deep fried but, as long as you don’t skimp on the oil, the Egg Foo Yung should still puff up a bit even when shallow fried.

You can use whatever combination of vegetables and meat you like. For this post I included onion, garlic, some leftover smoked gammon, pak choi cabbage and coriander leaf.

I start off by quickly browning the onion then adding the rest of the ingredients. I cook them just enough so the meat starts to catch nicely at the edges and the veg begins to soften.

For the eggs, all you do is lightly beat them with soy sauce, sesame oil and Chinese rice wine. Note that it’s rice wine and not rice vinegar.

The next stage is to combine the eggs with sauteed meat and veg. There’s two ways of doing this.

You could remove the meat and veg from the pan, add fresh oil then pour the eggs in. After the eggs are just set on the bottom, scatter over the meat and veg.

The other method, which I tend to use, is to leave the meat and veg in the pan and just pour the eggs over the top. I’ve done it both ways and found little difference in the end result.

Once the underneath is nicely golden brown (use a spatula to take a peek), you’ll need to turn the Egg Foo Yung over. I don’t worry about getting one large pancake by trying to flip the whole thing over. All I do is mark it into rough quarters and turn these over.

After another minute or so, the other side will be golden brown too and the Foo Yung ready to serve.

I think the quarters look most appetizing stacked one on top of the other.

THE SAUCE

Once you’ve prepped all the ingredients for the Egg Foo Yung, it’s going to cook very quickly. So, if you’re going to include the sauce, I think you’re best to make that first.

Mind you, after cooking this simple dish a time or two, you’ll probably be doing all three elements at once: mixing the eggs, cooking the filling and bubbling the sauce. This makes it an even quicker meal to put together.

The sauce is incredibly simple. All you do is bring some stock to a simmer with soy sauce, Chinese rice wine, sesame oil and black pepper. I add a little sugar to balance things out, but don’t go mad. We want this to be a wonderfully savoury sauce, not a sickly sweet one.

If you fancy some heat then add a little chilli sauce or chilli flakes. You can probably leave out the extra sugar if you use sweet chilli sauce.

To thicken the sauce, mix a little cornflour with cold water and stir it in. After a two minute bubble your sauce will be done.

SERVING EGG FOO YUNG

When I want something quick and satisfying to eat, Egg Foo Yung with a tangy, salty sauce hits the spot for me.

A sprinkle of toasted black and white sesame seeds makes a nice visual contrast and provides a little nutty crunch.

But it’s suitable for a larger meal too. We like it with some plain boiled rice on the side and lots of stir-fried green veggies. Cucumber salad, dressed with rice vinegar and sesame oil makes for some nice crunchy contrast.

Make sure there’s plenty of that savoury sauce too.

Just don’t tell Ken Hom.