easy egg foo young using leftovers

Do you love American-Chinese food? We do. Especially when we are bone-dead tired and hangry. We sometimes stop at this tiny little dimly lit restaurant in Del City with a low moon door and red and gold ceiling lanterns, but only rarely and usually when we are already out running errands. When this food craving hits us at home, we tend to stay home and eat Lazy W Egg Foo Young, also known as Bean Sprout Omelets. So good.

I first made egg foo young after an internet search that landed me at this site. We liked it! We didn’t love it, but we liked it enough to have it again pretty soon after. The classic brown sauce was not our speed, but the meal itself was tasty and very filling, especially with a side of rice, heavy on the soy sauce. Since that first attempt, we have been slowly making this our own and actually simplifying the recipe. It now appears on the Lazy W dinner menu two or three times per month, and (see above) especially when we are bone-dead tired. It’s a wonderful comfort food, highly versatile for each family member, and fairly healthy.

Something else I like about our version of egg foo young is that it is a natural canvas for leftovers. One of the only ways Handsome will tolerate leftovers, as a matter of fact. Do you have some extra chicken breast in the fridge? Dice it, wok it around a little with fresh seasonings, and add it to your mix. Extra pork chop? Even better. I have enjoyed it with roasted broccoli, shredded zuchinni, carrots, and more. Mushrooms. Always mushrooms. Watermelon!! Well, maybe not watermelon. Save the watermelon for dessert.

This is one of those recipes that may seem mysterious at the restaurant, until you make it once at home. Then suddenly it’s a menu mainstay you could crank out in your sleep. Here we go.

Basic Ingredients, makes one large serving:

• 2-3 large eggs
• bean sprouts (maybe 1/2 cup per person, either fresh or canned)
• Asian seasoning mix (or just some garlic powder, ground ginger, pepper, and soy sauce)
• Cooking oil

Optional add-ins, totally customizable:

• Diced cooked meats (pork & chicken seem to work best, also try shrimp!) You need only a very small amount, maybe half a cup per serving.
• Shredded vegetables, also in small amounts (My favorite is mushrooms. Almost anything works.)
• Water chestnuts (I suggest dicing these before adding to wet mix.)

Method:

• Preheat a wok or large non-stick skillet and add some cooking oil, letting it get to a shimmering heat. You will need enough oil to coat the pan and hold the egg mixture, not enough to cover it all. The heat for this dish should be hotter than for scrambled eggs. You’re frying it, not cooking it gently.
• For each person’s serving, crack the eggs into a medium mixing bowl. Add the bean sprouts, chopped cooked meats, Asian seasonings, and optional stuff like veggies. Whisk it all together like you’re about to make an omelet or frittata.
• Pour the egg mixture into the hot, oily wok or pan and let it cook until the edges curl in a little bit. Use a wide, thin spatula to loosen the edges if you need to, and kinda wiggle it around gently. By the time you flip the whole thing over to cook on the backside, that first cooked side should be golden brown and have some familiar omelet or frittata markings.
• Worth noting: The more veggies you add in, the trickier it will be to flip, just FYI. I always add so much to mine that I have come to accept my personal Egg Foo Young will never be pretty to look at, like Handsome’ simpler fare. Mine is more of a Soy Sauce Scramble. Or a Chinese Food Chop Up. A Leftovers Labyrinth… Whatevv.

  

• Serve with rice!

Rice Side Dish Idea:

To really drive home the easy factor on those bone-dead-tired, borderline hangry nights, I serve this with instant brown rice. This tastes even better if you stir in a few glugs of soy sauce with the water or broth before cooking it. Also, if your family likes vegetables more than my husband does, stir in some peas or carrots or whatever you like. Regarding the healthiness of this dish, I only indulge in little of the salty rice if I have a long run planned the next day. Otherwise, the eggs, meats, and veggies are plenty filling. Promise.

Okay, thanks for reading! Do you have a Chinese food trick up your sleeve you’re willing to share? What are you favorite uses for leftovers? Do you like the television show Fresh Off the Boat? We totally do.

Waste Not Want Not
XOXO