Egg Foo Young Recipe - Better than Takeout! (2024)

FAQs

Is egg foo young a healthy choice? ›

Egg Foo Young is one of the healthiest Chinese takeout meals if made at home! While restaurants tend to cook the omelettes in a LOT of oil, when made at home it's a low fat, high protein, low carb dinner option.

Since the arrival of the egg foo young in the United States, Americans — particularly Midwesterners — have made it their own, adding barbecued meats, drizzling brown gravy over the top, and frying it into a fritter.

Egg foo young is more than just an omelet

Well, it's basically a pancake, fried fritter, and omelet all in one. The secret to good egg foo young is how well the ingredients are mixed. Done right, it becomes fluffy and delicious. If the ingredients are out of balance, then it may come out hard or too soft.

As much as I hate to say this, use a knife and fork. Egg foo young doesn't come apart easily and I have never had much success using chopsticks as a knife. An alternative is to use a knife to cut up the egg foo young and then eat the pieces with chopsticks after dipping in the gravy.

Steamed seafood is one of the healthiest options you could choose from a Chinese restaurant menu. Most fish options are high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids. This protein often comes with ginger and scallions, which will add flavor to the dish without adding calories or sodium.

While distinctly Chinese American, egg foo young has its roots in China, where there are variations of the dish throughout the eastern coast. In China, it's sometimes dotted with preserved radish or oysters (common in Fujian) or char siu pork (typical of Hong Kong).

Egg Foo Yung is a Chinese egg omelet. The name is Cantonese and means "hibiscus egg." Egg Foo Yung (also spelled Egg Foo Young and Egg Fu Yung) is made with beaten eggs and most often ham, but—as with the omelet we are all familiar with—a variety of meats and seafood as well as vegetables can also be added.

Serving Egg Foo Yung

You could probably eat Egg Foo Yung on its own but I cannot eat it without a rich Chinese gravy and white rice. The gravy is made from a mixture of chicken broth, oyster sauce and soy sauce that gets brought to a simmer and thickened with a cornstarch slurry.

What's the difference between egg foo yung and omelette? ›

The most important difference between a regular egg omelette and authentic egg foo yung is the filling. There are countless variations you can embrace with the basic egg foo yung recipe, but the ingredients list will usually include an assortment of vegetables like onions, bean sprouts and mushrooms.

Never leave cooked eggs or egg dishes out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours or for more than 1 hour when temperatures are above 90° F. Bacteria that can cause illness grow quickly at warm temperatures (between 40° F and 140° F).

This is a great prep-ahead recipe because you can freeze your casserole in individual easy-to-thaw portions and get them out for lunch the night before. Thaw your Egg Foo Young Casserole in the refrigerator overnight and eat it cold or reheat in the (toaster) oven.

You can keep the leftover egg foo young pancakes in the fridge for up to four days or freeze them for up to four months. I reheat them by popping them in a toaster oven or an air fryer set at 375°F for 5 to 8 minutes or until heated through.

Worst: General Tso's Chicken

One order clocks in at around 1,500 calories and 88 grams of fat, and it delivers more sodium than you should get in a day. Other fried dishes to watch out for: sesame, orange, and sweet and sour chicken.

Egg Foo Yung (young) (1 patty) contains 3.6g total carbs, 3g net carbs, 8.5g fat, 6.4g protein, and 114 calories.

Chicken egg foo yung contains 238 calories per 175 g serving. This serving contains 13 g of fat, 23 g of protein and 8.2 g of carbohydrate. The latter is 5.5 g sugar and 0.5 g of dietary fiber, the rest is complex carbohydrate.