Egg Foo Young 芙蓉蛋 (fù róng dàn) is a Cantonese dish that is tremendously popular in the western world. However, if you order this dish at non-Cantonese restaurants in China, you're not likely going to get crispy egg patties. Instead, to them, Egg Foo Young 芙蓉蛋 is a savoury soft egg pudding dish that is delicate and light. I could not find any concrete information as to the very origin, but I can speculate...
So, was the original Egg Foo Young 芙蓉蛋 steamed or was it fried? I think steamed. Egg foo young is named after the white hibiscus flower, 芙蓉 (fù róng) which is white, delicate and soft. So, I can’t imagine that the pan-fried egg foo young would remind anyone of a delicate flower.
It seems that this dish was from Yunnan which is in the south-western part of China. Guangzhou had a fried egg dish that with shrimp and leeks. The dish, 芙蓉蛋 (fù róng dàn) was more popular. So, I think the Cantonese borrowed the name to bring attention to their egg dish. Though at the time, it didn’t have its circular shape, they were just random shapes and sizes.
Its circular patty-shape likely came from Chinese-American restaurants to make it more appealing to Americans. The gravy on top is definitely Chinese-American. In Guangzhou and Hong Kong has light soy sauce or fish sauce sprinkled on top and not gravy.
In the 70’s, Hong Kong cafés and alley restaurants in Hong Kong and Guangzhou served plates of rice with various toppings called 碟頭飯 (Cantonese: deep tao fan). Pork and vegetable stir-fry on rice 菜遠肉片飯 (Canto: choy yuen ngau yoke fan) and bbq pork on rice 叉燒飯 (Canto: char siu fan) are some examples. At that time, in Hong Kong, Egg Foo Young 芙蓉蛋 on rice was already in a patty shape and very popular. Consequently, I think that the appearance was of western-influence but still Cantonese in origin. And that is the completely unofficial evolution of Egg Foo Young 芙蓉蛋!
In my Egg Foo Young 芙蓉蛋 recipe, I’ll show you how to make it so that your egg comes out with a crispy outer skin but still smooth and soft on the inside. I’ll also provide you with instructions on how to make an oyster sauce gravy to pour on top, American style!
For more Chinese food recipes popular in the West, check out my Cantonese Spring Rolls 廣東春捲, Crispy Sweet and Sour Pork 脆皮咕嚕肉, and Moo Shu Pork 木須肉!
Egg Foo Young 芙蓉蛋
Ingredients
- 50 g Cantonese BBQ pork , julienned
- 50 g Shrimp , shelled and deveined
- 50 g Bean sprouts , ends removed
- 30 g Onions (approx. ½ of a small onion)
- 1 stalk Green onion
- 2 Large eggs
- 1 ½ tsp Corn starch
- 1 tbsp Water
- ½ tsp Fish sauce (can substitute with light soy sauce)
- 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
- 1/8 tsp White pepper powder
- 2 tbsp Oil
- ¼ tsp Salt (if not adding oyster sauce gravy-see below)
Ingredients for oyster sauce gravy (optional): makes ½ cup gravy
- 1 tsp Oyster sauce
- ¼ tsp Chicken broth powder
- ¼ tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Corn starch
- 150 ml Water
Instructions
- Remove ends of bean sprouts. Rinse well with water and let dry in colander
- Slice onion into thin wedges
- Julienne bbq pork
- Remove shell and devein shrimp
- Julienne green onions.
Soak in water if you’d like them a bit curly - Combine 1 ½ tsp corn starch with 1 tbsp water. Mix well and set aside
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add 2 tsp Shaoxing wine to the water. Put bbq pork, shrimp, bean sprouts and onions into the boiling water. Cook for 1 minute
- Remove contents from the pot and let drain in a colander or sieve
- Combine contents from the pot with 2 eggs in a mixing bowl plus ¾ of the green onions
- Add ½ tsp fish sauce and 1/8 tsp white pepper powder. Add ¼ tsp salt if not adding oyster sauce gravy
- Stir the corn starch and water from step 6 and pour it into the mixing bowl. Mix well
- Heat wok on high heat and add 2 tbsp oil
- Pour in egg mixture and spread evenly. Should be approx. 1cm thick.
If you’re making a bigger portion, separate into batches. If your egg mixture is too thick, excessive moisture will come out of the vegetables and you will not get the toasted colour on your eggs - Swirl the egg around so that the heat is evenly distributed
- Check the bottom of the egg to see if it’s nicely toasted. Should take approx. 1 minute
Note that the egg you see from the top view will still be runny. If the egg has solidified, then your dish will be over-cooked. The toasting of the egg is an important aspect of this dish. - Once the bottom looks toasted, flip the egg to the other side.
If you can flip it in the air, that’d be perfect. I’m too afraid of dropping it if I air flip it, so, depending on the size, I either slide the egg to the edge of the wok and I flip it over with a spatula or I slide the egg onto a large plate, cover it with another large plate, flip it over and then slide it back into the wok (some of the egg may stick to the plate) - Fry until the other side is toasted as well. Once the other side has been toasted to a golden brown, remove from the wok
- Continue if you are making gravy, if not, add the remaining green onions and serve
- To make the oyster sauce gravy, combine 1 tsp oyster sauce, ¼ tsp chicken broth powder, ¼ tsp sugar, 1 tsp corn starch and 150ml water. Mix well and pour into a wok, pan or pot and cook at medium heat
- Stir until sauce has thickened. Make adjustments if necessary
- Pour over egg and add remaining green onions on top
- Serve
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