A Guide to Egg Foo Yung

A Chinese takeaway staple, the Egg Foo Yung has proved popular since the 1800s. We take a look at the history behind this dish, and how you can make it at home.

Egg Foo Yung is a Chinese omelette dish made from eggs, meat and vegetables. While the renowned French omelette was named during the 16th century, egg-based pancake-style dishes filled with meat and vegetables have been popular for centuries, and were even enjoyed in ancient Persian feasts! Egg Foo Yung as we know and love it now was first cooked up in Chinese restaurants in American during the mid-1800s. The inspiration for this dish is thought to have found its origins in Shanghai, where a dish involving beaten egg whites and ham was traditionally enjoyed. A version was also popular in Northern China, replacing the ham with chunks of chicken.

Like all omelettes, Egg Foo Yung is very simple to make at home, especially if you swap the deep-frying methods of takeaway dishes for the slightly healthier pan-frying. All you need is a couple of eggs, and whatever fresh vegetables and meats you have to hand, making it a great choice for using up leftovers or as a quick meal at the end of the week. There are no strict rules about fillings, but typically sausage, ham or chicken are used as meats, or tofu as a vegetarian alternative, with mushroom, spring onion and beansprouts making up the vegetable fillings. To help give you some inspiration for making the dish, here is our recipe to make four servings of egg foo yung!

Ingredients:

8 eggs

2 spring onions, thinly sliced

1 white onion, thinly sliced

70g beansprouts

40g mushrooms, thinly sliced

70g cooked meat, thinly sliced (chicken, pork or beef)

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tbsp oil

Method:

1. Briefly stir-fry all of the vegetables with the soy sauce to make them more flavourful.
2. Crack the eggs into a bowl and lightly beat them. Add the vegetables and the meat to the bowl and combine.
3. Heat the oil in a wok or medium frying pan to a high heat. Using a ladle, add some of the mixture into the pan. Fry for about three minutes before flipping the omelette over and cook until both sides are golden brown and puffy. Repeat this until all of the mixture has been used.

If you are looking to make Egg Foo Yung or another popular Chinese dish, then check out the range of fresh oriental produce available at Oriental Mart!