Egg foo young recipe (foeyonghai)
Back to memories of my dad picking up Chinese from the local restaurant. He always brought home egg foo young and it was one of my favorite dishes at the time. However, making your own is so much more delicious and super easy to do!
Egg foo young
We all have them I suppose. Those memories of dishes we used to eat when we were little. But – in my case – when I was older and went to the nearest Chinese restaurant and ordered a egg foo young, I was usually really disappointed by the fact that it was rubbery, far too sweet and just not as good as I remembered. So I never really went back and tried it again.
However, a while ago I saw someone post a recipe for egg foo young on Instagram and I immediately thought that was such a brilliant idea. I mean, making this classic Chinese dish is really ultimately very simple. It’s nothing more then an omelet with vegetables if you think about it. It’s the sauce that makes all the difference.
Which vegetables to use in the egg foo young
You can really use any vegetables you like in this dish. It’s super simple to vary too. I used what I had on hand and what needed to be used. That also makes this a perfect dish for using up leftovers. I used leeks, paprika, cabbage and some sugar snaps (which I precooked just briefly) but you can use things like courgette, mushrooms or any other veg you have in the fridge.
Vegetarian
I made my egg foo young vegetarian but you can easily add chicken or fish to the dish if you would want to do that. Because there are already so many eggs in the dish I tend to leave it vegetarian. But I remember that at the Chinese restaurant there was usually chicken or something in the eggs. Little ham slices would work really well too if you have any leftovers there.
The magic of the sauce
The real hero of this dish is that delicious sauce. You can argue that it is not exceptionally healthy. There is quite a bit of sugar in kecap manis, in the ginger syrup and in the sweet chili sauce, but how sweet you make it is up to you. You can make it less sweet by replacing the kecap manis for coconut aminos and adding grated ginger instead of the ginger syrup. The sweet chili you could leave out all together.
But it would make the flavor very different. Still good, but different. Since I don’t eat any sugar most days of the week I allow myself this indulgence every once in a while. Just because it is totally worth it.
Can I save the egg foo young?
Yes you can. I actually ate it cold the next day and loved it. Or if you don’t like to eat cold eggs, you can reheat it gently in the oven (covered with foil) or the microwave if you have one. You could even heat it in a normal frying pan. Just don’t heat it too high as that will dry out the egg.
It’s easy to take with you (when eating it cold) for lunch the next day too.
Egg foo yong (foeyonghai)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 200 gr stir fry vegetables of choice
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- 5 eggs
- 1 spring onion in rings
- 125 gr bean sprouts
- pepper and salt
FOE YONG HAI SAUCE
- 300 ml passata or other tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp kecap manis
- 4 tbsp sweet chilisauce
- 2 tbsp ginger syrup
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tsp corn flour optional
How to make the egg foo yong
- Heat a frying pan with the oil on high heat. Add the stir fry vegetables and the chili flakes and bake for about 5 minutes or so or until the vegetables are cooked. Season to taste with pepper and salt.
- Break the eggs in a bowl and whisk with pepper and salt. Pour into the frying pan over the vegetables and let it cook on medium heat. You can break the omelet with a wooden spoon in a few large parts, so it becomes a bit of a messy omelet. That’s what you want for this dish.
- The sauce is super simple. You take a small sauce pan and add the passata to it. Add the ketjap, ginger syrup, vinegar and sweet chili sauce. Stir through. You can use it as is. It doesn’t have to cook.
- If you want the sauce slightly thicker you can add some corn flour to it. Add the cornflour to a small cup and add a bit of liquid to it. Stir until smooth and then add to your tomato sauce.
- Serve the omelet with the sauce and with rice or cauliflower rice.
- Serve with extra cilantro and/or spring onions
Nutrition Information per portion
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
2 comments on “Egg foo young recipe (foeyonghai)”
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We love Asian flavors and dishes at my house, but I’ve never tried Egg Foo Young! Can you believe that? 😊 It’s definitely a classic, and it looks so good! The sauce sounds delish, now we have to try this very soon. Thanks for the inspiration, Simone and thank you for visiting my blog, very happy to meet you and find your lovely website!
Ah thanks so much Marcelle! You should definitely try the Egg foo young. And happy to meet you too!