Shrimp Foo Young

Egg foo young is an American Chinese cuisine that was born in the United States back in the 1930’s by Chinese immigrants catering to the Western taste. It can be found on almost any Chinese restaurant menu and if it isn't, someone could easily scramble you up one in the kitchen if you ask. Egg foo young is not about a recipe as much as a way of cooking a vegetable and meat or seafood filled omelet. It can be served plain or with a sauce, it all depends on who’s cooking.

In Hawaii, egg foo young is served plain or with a drizzle of soy sauce. I never thought to put a sauce over it until I moved to Oregon. Here they serve egg foo young with either a light brown gravy (not my favorite) or sweet and sour sauce (my favorite). The addition of fresh tomato wedges stir fried with the sweet and sour sauce gives the eggs a nice balance of sweet and salty at the same time.


Egg foo young are usually served in individual small circular omelets that look like small pancakes. Be sure to get your pan nice and hot before adding the egg mixture, because the hot oil adds a lot of flavor to the egg. This dish can also be served family style on a large platter to make it fast and easy.


SHRIMP FOO YOUNG
Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe to Follow

1 large tomato, sliced into wedges or diced
6 large eggs, lightly scrambled
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. dry sherry
dash black pepper
¼ cup onions, thinly sliced
½ cup bay shrimp, extra moister squeezed out
½ cup carrot, thinly sliced into strips
½ cup frozen peas

Make the sweet and sour sauce and set aside. (see recipe below)

Gently scramble the eggs with the salt, sherry and pepper. Add the onion, shrimp, carrots and peas; mix well.

Heat a 12 inch skillet over med high heat and add 1 tsp. oil. Stir fry the tomato wedges just to heat through; about 1 minute. Add about ½ cup of sweet and sour sauce to the tomatoes and place in your serving dish.

Rinse and dry skillet and return to the stove. Heat over med high heat and let the pan get pretty hot. Add about 2 – 3 Tbsp. oil to the pan.  Scoop out 1/2 cup portions of the mixture and cook as you would a pancake.

TO COOK ONE LARGE OMELET (FAMILY STYLE)
Pour the egg mixture in to the hot oil. Let the eggs sit without stirring to let the bottom set slightly. Then stick your spatula under the eggs in sections and flip to cook the other side. Turn again as needed to allow it to set on both sides. DON’T OVER COOK. Place cooked eggs over the sweet and sour sauce and tomatoes. Pull some of the tomatoes out from under the eggs and place them on the top of the egg foo young and garnish with green onions. Serve with rice.

SWEET and SOUR SAUCE
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup ketchup
½ cup cider vinegar
2 Tblsp. soy sauce
½ cup water
2 Tblsp. cornstarch
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 thin slice ginger, smashed

Place all the ingredients into a pot. Stir with a whisk until it comes to a boil and thickens (if it gets too thick, add water to thin out).

Leftover sauce will look like gelatin.  Reheating the sauce with a whisk to thin it back out.

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