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Egg Foo Young is a delicious Chinese-style omelet filled with ground pork and a mix of vegetables. This is an authentic Egg Foo Young recipe, prepared just like it's done in Chinese restaurants.
What Is Egg Foo Young
Egg Foo Young is a Chinese-style omelet filled with ground pork and various vegetables. Sometimes misspelled as “egg foo yung” or “fu yong,” it is a staple in American Chinese food, and its name comes from the Cantonese language.
“Foo Young” or 芙蓉 (fúróng) means lotus, as it is said the dish resembles that of a lotus flower.
In this recipe tutorial, you will learn how to make an authentic and the best version of Egg Foo Young
A long time ago, when I first set foot on US soil for higher education, I went straight to middle America. I flew from Malaysia and arrived in the state of Iowa. After touching down, I dined at a Chinese restaurant, and the first dish I ordered was Egg Foo Young.
When the food arrived, I was shocked to find out that the American Chinese rendition was greasy and puffy, with a thick filling of vegetables inside the eggs, and doused in a thick and gloppy brown sauce. The taste was very bland and unappetizing. It was a major culinary culture shock, and alas, that was my first (sad) encounter with American Chinese food.
Difference Between Egg Foo Young And Omelette
Egg Foo Young and omelets differ in ingredients, cooking methods, appearance, texture, and cultural origins.
Egg Foo Young consists of beaten eggs mixed with vegetables including bean sprouts, shredded carrots, mushrooms, onions, and scallions, along with protein like shrimp, pork, and chicken. It’s fried until they puff up and turn golden brown in color, resembling a thick pancake. It’s commonly served with a savory Chinese brown sauce.
Omelets, on the other hand, are made by cooking beaten eggs in a skillet, then folding them over a filling of cheese, vegetables, and preserved meat such as ham. They are thinner in texture and there is no sauce doused on top of regular omelets.
Furthermore, Egg Foo Young is cooked until it is golden brown, with a slightly crispy and puffy exteriors. Omelets are softer, with a moist or creamy interior.
In short, egg foo young is an Americanized version of Chinese-style omelet, similar to shrimp omelet; it’s filled with an assortment of ingredients, seasoned with Chinese seasonings of soy sauce and oyster sauce.
Ingredients
My egg foo young recipe calls for the most basic ingredients as I believe in less is more.
- eggs
- bean sprouts
- ground pork – you want a bit of fat in the ground pork. A good ratio is 80% lean meat and 20% fat.
- shrimp
- Shaoxing wine – you may use Chinese rice wine, Japanese cooking sake, or dry sherry. If you cannot consume alcohol, skip it altogether.
- soy sauce and oyster sauce – two of the most important seasoning sauces in Cantonese cooking.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
How To Make Egg Foo Young
The cooking process consists of four simple steps below:
Step 1. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients to the egg mixture and stir well to combine. Ensure that the oyster sauce is fully dissolved in the egg mixture.
Step 2. Heat a wok or pan on high heat. Add the oil. Once the oil is fully heated, ladle the egg mixture into the pan, ensuring that the diameter of the omelet is about 4-5 inches (10cm-12cm) wide.
Step 3. Use a pair of chopsticks to transfer the bean sprouts and other ingredients to the middle of the omelet, making it thicker in the center. Allow the omelet to set for about 3 minutes before flipping it over.
Step 4. Fry the omelet until both sides are golden brown and nicely puffed up. Repeat the process with the remaining egg mixture to make a total of 3 omelets. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Egg Foo Young Gravy
If you are looking for the Americanized egg foo young gravy recipe, please trust me on this: you do not need the brown sauce. If you are wondering if Chinatown egg foo young is healthy for you, it’s not if you have the sodium-laden and starch-heavy gravy.
The brown sauce is made with chicken broth or stock, seasoned with soy sauce, MSG, and thickened with cornstarch slurry. There is no nutrition in it, and all it does is make the eggs soggy, losing their original crisp texture.
My recipe presents this iconic egg dish in the authentic way, and it’s much healthier and more delicious than your Chinese takeout, I assure you.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is 263 calories per serving.
What To Serve With This Recipe
Eggs pair well with steamed rice. For a wholesome Chinese meal at home, I recommend the following recipes to accompany it.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Egg Recipes You Might Like
Egg Foo Young
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 oz (60g) bean sprouts
- 2 oz (60g) ground pork
- 4 medium-sized shrimp, peeled and cut into small pieces
- 1 scallion, cut into small rings
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine, optional
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 pinch sugar
- 3 dashes white pepper
- 3 tablespoons oil
Instructions
- Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients to the egg mixture and stir well to combine. Ensure that the oyster sauce is fully dissolved in the egg mixture.
- Heat a wok or pan on high heat. Add the oil. Once the oil is fully heated, ladle the egg mixture into the pan, ensuring that the diameter of the omelet is about 4-5 inches (10cm-12cm) wide.
- Use a pair of chopsticks to transfer the bean sprouts and other ingredients to the middle of the omelet, making it thicker in the center. Allow the omelet to set for about 3 minutes before flipping it over.
- Fry the omelet until both sides are golden brown and nicely puffed up. Repeat the process with the remaining egg mixture to make a total of 3 omelets. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Notes
- You want a bit of fat in the ground pork. A good ratio is 80% lean meat and 20% fat.
- You may use Chinese rice wine, Japanese cooking sake, or dry sherry. If you cannot consume alcohol, skip it altogether.
- Soy sauce and oyster sauce – two of the most important seasoning sauces in Cantonese cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
In my opinion, egg foo young without gravy is like spaghetti and meatballs without sauce.
Hi Thea, egg foo young is not supposed to have sauce to begin with, I mean the real egg foo young. The thing about spaghetti without the sauce is that it’s not edible. But egg foo young without sauce is edible and actually SO MUCH better, as the flavors are already inside the eggs.
Would you please correct the recipe and tell us which ingredients to mix with the eggs and which to add after they start to set? I’m guessing the sugar and the liquids go with the eggs and the vegetables and meat after. Is this right?
Just had to tell my story. First though, yes, king sea is still there. It is downtown. My hubby grew up in Sioux City and I grew up in Storm Lake, IA.
I haven’t tried your recipe yet but sounds delicious. There was a “Chinese” restaurant in Yankton, SD. OMG I loved their Egg Foo Yung! BUT, they were small and fairly thin and had a thin, dark dipping sauce you could use or not. I have never been able to duplicate it, nor found a recipe similar.
Anyway, While in Rochester, MN (Mayo Clinic) hubby took me out for my favorite. (Egg Foo Yung. What I was served was what looked like a huge steaming plate of runny cow poop! An inch of bitter yet tasteless cloudy brown goo over a rubber tire with raw veggies and bean sprouts. Disgusting!!
Your recipe sounds delicious. It will be my first attempt at even eating Egg Foo Yung since that unfortunate instance. SO HAPPY THAT I FOUND YOUR SITE!!!!
Hi Melissa, thanks for your comment. If you go to King Sea again, please say hi to the owner from Malaysia for me. :)
Hi
I precooked the onions, mushrooms and shrimps first…….and then added mixed veg (frozen and diced)
do you mix all the liquids / oils together with the eggs ?
i did and although the mixture looked darker it seemed to work
Yes everything is mixed together.
What a great egg foo young. Thank you Bee.
Shrimp egg foo yung is my absolute favorite. But I have to admit I love the peanut oil gravy that comes with it (not the dark brown sauce). Do you happen to have a recipe for the peanut gravy? If so please share it because only a few restaurants serve that way thanks.
I am loving the recipes you have been posting lately! Reading my mind about the foods I miss from Singapore. This egg foo young recipe is awesome. I’m not a big fan of pork however. What else could I sub in for the ground pork?
Ground chicken.
This Egg Foo Young recipe was a total hit for my family, even the kids!! This is a keeper, “Thank you” for posting this recipe. I can’t wait to try your other recipes.
Thanks Lisa.
Hi Bee, I saw in the picture that it looks like you add some spring onions, is this correct? Thanks. PS: I love your recipes, I have tried many of them for my family and they love it!
Yes. Thanks. :)
Hi! I’m totally new to cooking stuff, so excuse me if this is a very simple question but:
I have one of those induction cookers with a billion temperature settings. For Asian/Chinese cooking, what temperature range should I be cooking in? I tried this dish out – the first one was too hot and it got charred, the second didn’t look as nicely browned as the one in the picture, though it tasted good.
Thanks!
Sorry but I am not familiar with induction cookers.