To Make A Vegan Omelet – Part Two: Attack of the Faux

Not a long time ago, in a kitchen I can see from here…

Following the failure of the Kosher/Vegan Alliance to make a proper vegan omelet because I forgot to math an ingredient, Pan Solo returns to the stovetop, intent on cracking the vegan egg code.

Yes, I know. Pan Solo doesn’t actually appear until Episode IV, A New Pot, but I am stretching this gag as far as it will go.

::Scottish accent:: It canna take anymore!

Don’t @ me.

Having not made Charity Morgan’s vegan omelet recipe properly the first time (my fault, not hers), I returned to it with tweaks.

That’s right, I was modifying a recipe I had yet to make properly even once.

I decided to make an Eggless Foo Young; we’re calling it “Egg-Faux Young."

Please continue not to @ me.

**

This is a long treatise on Egg Foo Young – my relationship with it, how I developed the recipe, the dish’s evolution in America and its importance in toning down (though not eliminating) anti-Chinese sentiment in the US, etc.

My scholarship is imperfect, and I edited out a VERY political section, but I have links out to other sources for further study for those interested.

On our website there will be a “Jump to Recipe” link here. I don’t have that option in Facebook.

If you don’t want to read the whole thing but want to get cooking, the recipe is at the bottom – get scrolling.

**

A. The (Faux) Egg Came First

There is a stereotype about Jewish people and Chinese food. I meet that stereotype, and I come by it honestly.

After Havdalah service on most Saturday nights, my dad would take us right from temple to a white tablecloth Chinese restaurant. For years I had the same thing each time, the Egg Foo Young combo. As the pickiest of picky eaters, this meal probably was where I got in most of my vegetables for the week, counting the veggies in the egg rolls and the Foo Young.

⁃ In a display of my ignorance, I freely admit that I did not know bean sprouts are in egg foo young until I started researching the dish well over a year ago.

While I may love and more often have Singapore Chow Mei Fun, Char Siu, General Tso’s anything, I always go back for more Foo Young. This dish is nostalgia, and comfort, and frankly delicious.

During the pandemic lockdown I started watching #UncleRoger on YouTube, which inspired me to buy a real wok (carbon steel needing curing and seasoning).

After fried rice, Egg Foo Young was the first dish I made. We’ve been moving plant-based since then, and I’ve wanted an easy chickpea flour version for a long time. With my many chickpea flour egg fails (as reported in my last post), I hadn’t considered making this dish vegan yet.

Knowing what I did wrong the last time I tried to cook a vegan omelet, which was a measurement error on my part in adjusting someone else’s tested recipe, I felt confident pushing forward with my experiment.

I started with the basics from page 106 in Charity Morgan’s book, “Unbelievably Vegan.” As opposed to the full recipe which serves four, and unlike the disastrous quarter recipe I messed up last time, I halved the recipe.

Since I was making essentially an egg patty, rather than the omelet the recipe was designed for, I added Baking Powder to lighten up the ‘eggs’. I also put ground White Pepper in the egg mix.

I opted to cook this in a large non-stick pan instead of my wok as I wasn’t sure just how sticky the mix would be. A happy, but unforeseen outcome was that I was able to divide the whole mix with veggies into two patties once it started firming up, so I got the two portions out in one go.

I planned on making one monster-sized patty so I could sit and share it for breakfast with my wife. Often when I make a cook-to-order meal, she finishes her plate before I get a chance to sit with mine.

In the wok I would have either had to make one monster patty which we would share, or I could cook two portions one at a time. With the second option, I’d end up sitting at the table by myself.

I truly hate eating alone, and a large skillet allowing this two-patty solution was perfect.

A couple of days later, I went for a monster patty in the non-stick pan. I was extremely happy with the results. I have yet to try this in my wok.

Typically, when making Egg Foo Young, you mix cooked and cooled fillings into the beaten and seasoned egg prior to adding to your pan. I’ve seen some recipes where you cook the fillings, put them aside, make an omelette and fold it over the cooked fillings. To me, the latter option is just an omelette, not Foo Young.

I wanted to use less oil and a medium to medium-high temperature to ensure the batter would have time to cook through. I also wanted a method where I would not need to cook then remove things from the pan just to add them back later.

I opted to start with a frittata-type approach.

**

Editorial note:

Since writing this, but prior to posting, I found some interesting info I did not have before.

A video I watched recently, and other recipes I have since found, say to mix raw vegetables into the eggs prior to cooking as the steam they release adds lightness to the eggs.

They also add potato starch for improved structure and lighter texture.

Content creator ‘Made with Lau’ blanches the beans sprouts, then the other veggies, to just par-cook them, then mixes them into the eggs before frying. I feel I am getting a similar result with the sauté my veggies & sprouts get prior to adding the batter.

I have not tried any of these with my faux eggs, but will revisit with a much shorter post updating the recipe if I see any value incorporating them into my batter.

**

I heated a nonstick skillet, added a generous tablespoon and a half of oil, and threw in my onion & aromatics once the oil was shimmering. Once softened, the other vegetables went in. As soon as they softened, I tossed in the bean sprouts (I switched to using soybean sprouts for the superior nutrition over the usual Mung bean sprouts). Once all the vegetables were mixed together and hot, I poured the faux egg batter over the top.

If you feel it, you can do little flips of the pan to fold the batter and veggies into each other, otherwise use a spatula to combine everything.

You can either leave the batter as one large patty as the batter starts to firm or divide it into two or more patties with a spatula. This recipe serves two, but you can make four patties if you’d like, and if your pan is big enough. My non-stick pan, I’ve discovered, is nowhere near large enough to work with four patties. Of course, this was the cook during which I was taking in-process photos.

Egg Foo Young is cooked until browned, unlike an omelette, so make sure there is really good coloration on both sides before pulling it from the pan.

—

B. “What? No gravy?!”

– Looney Toons, ‘Chow Hound,’ 1951

The California Gold Rush in 1849 led to mass immigration, including folks from China. I am going to ignore the politics and racism that ensued, as well as how Chinese immigration led to the Supreme Court ruling that codified Birthright Citizenship in the United States. All this is important, and explains some of the boat we find ourselves in today; but I am talking about food, and a specific foodstuff at that.

**

For a video that explores some of how Egg Foo Young developed in the US, plus a chef with 50 years’ experience cooking Chinese food, please see this video from creator Made With Lau: https://www.madewithlau.com/recipes/egg-foo-young

The link below takes you to an article (as a class project at UCLA) about how Chinese-American cuisine evolved over 150 years:

http://conniewenchang.bol.ucla.edu/menus/index.html

For a history of Chinese immigration, livelihood, and backlash to their presence in the US, please see this link to an article by Xi Luo (Translator: Ella N. Wu):

https://usdandelion.com/archives/4592

There is a lot more to see and read. It is a fascinating and occasionally heartbreaking story. Unfortunately, it is not an uncommon one.

**

An interesting, to me anyway, fact about egg foo young is that it wasn’t always served with gravy.

Egg foo young is a Chinese-American dish; a variation of a Cantonese recipe, adapted to its new homeland. At the end of the day, the two are barely kissing-cousins. None of the Cantonese recipes I’ve found for an omelet made in the style of Egg Foo Young have a gravy on them, whether a modern recipe or one from years back.

The wave of Chinese migrants in the Gold Rush resulted in the birth of Chinese restaurants in California. Initially serving the food the owners were raised with (only modified to use locally available ingredients), cooking solely for members of their community and poor miners, over time the dishes were changed to also suit the American palate.

https://meljoulwan.com/2013/04/20/egg-foo-yong/

In the post linked below, Richard Auffrey finds mentions of Foo Young in the late 1800s, but no mention of gravy until a recipe for the dish appeared in Chinese Cookery in the Home Kitchen by Jessie Louise Nolton (1911).

https://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/.../an-early...

--

As late as a 1947 release of “The United States Regional Cook Book,” edited by Ruth Berolzheimer, in the Western Regional section, we’re seeing an ‘Eggs Foo Yung’ recipe with no gravy (pg. 643). That recipe calls for 6 eggs, a number 2 can of mixed Chinese vegetables, an onion, 1/2 cup shredded cooked chicken, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and shortening for frying. It is dropped by the spoonful into a skillet with 1-inch-deep hot fat and fried ‘til browned on both sides.

--

In 1951, “The Omelette Book” by Narcissa G. Chamberlain was published. Starting on page 85, she lists two recipes for “CHINESE OMELETTE (Eggs Foo Yung).” The first recipe calls for Chinese Sauce (recipe on page 171), and the second is without.

That sauce is basically the same recipe as many of the ones I find in both hard-copy research and recipes posted online:

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon soya (sic) sauce

A few drops of water

-Make a slurry with the ingredients above.

-When smooth, add the slurry slowly, stirring as you go, to 3/4 cup hot chicken stock. Continue cooking and stirring until thickened.

--

I have a gap in my cookbook collection, so we lose the mid-fifties.

However, we pick up with “The Encyclopedia of World Cookery” by Elizabeth Campbell, published in 1958, and probably at least two years in the making.

This very British book has 30-plus pages of recipes in the Great Britain section, and 7 total pages to cover the combined cuisines of China and Japan.

That said, there is a dish there with an Anglicized name that is a folded egg foo young (“Prawn or Crab Chinese Omelette”). The recipe refers you to page 99 for the “Chinese brown omelette sauce.”

This sauce recipe consists of 1/4 pint (imperial measurement) cold water, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 2 teaspoons oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon cornflour (cornstarch in the US).

This is consistent with the other standard variation of Foo Young gravy I find in modern recipes.

--

By 1961, Egg Foo Young seems both embedded in American culture, as well as covered in gravy.

“Chinese Cooking Made Easy (formerly: What’s Cooking at Chang’s)” by Isabelle C. Chang, shows “Egg Fu Yong” as a very specific dish, separate from other deep fried omelet patties in Chinese cuisine, and the only one with gravy – she does say, “Serve plain or with gravy.” Being Chinese-American herself, I feel that the gravy is there for her American friends, versus her family.

On page 74, her recipe for “Egg Fu Yong” (quotation marks are hers) has the gravy recipe right with the egg-portion of the recipe for the first time I have seen. Her gravy recipe consists of:

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1 ½ cups (chicken) stock – parenthetical is hers

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon sugar

Blend all together. “Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. When it boils and thickens, turn off heat. Pour over omelets.”

Unlike her Shrimp omelet (pg. 94), Turkey Omelet (pg. 122), and Chicken Omelet (pg.182), which are all cooked in a similar manner, her “Egg Fu Yong” uniquely has a gravy for service.

**

As an aside, part of why I love her book is her inclusion of stories about her culture. Also, because the lead sentence in her ‘Hints’ chapter is, “In this book all ingredients except rhinoceros are available in the U.S.A.”

Cooking, culture, and a sense of humor; what could be better?

**

--

“The Chinese-Kosher Cookbook” by Ruth & Bob Grossman came out in 1963. It is a lighthearted look at how a Jewish grandmother brought her family, whose palates were bored with traditional Shabbos dinners, back to her table by learning to cook Chinese food. The dedication is:

“To Grandmother Slipakoff who held her first pair of chopsticks at eighty”

It is the first in a three-book series that goes to Italian-Kosher and French-Kosher. Recipe directions are written in the style of a stereotypical Jewish (Yiddish-speaking) grandmother.

Their recipe on page 29 is for MATZOH BREI FOO YOUNG*

* The asterisk leads to a footnote stating:

“MATZOH: that new Jewish diet bread all the goyem are buying.”

--

Above is an example of one of the bits of humor here that would not pass muster today.

The same can be said for language in many older cookbooks. “The United States Regional Cook Book,” referenced earlier, we shorthand to “The Racist Cookbook” at home because of the casual one-time use of a pejorative term in a story in the Southern section – but not the term you are thinking of.

I got interested in foodways in grad school (I was studying popular culture in and following World War I) and have a lot of older books (some inherited) that make me cringe at times, but that inform me as to how and why food was developed/eaten. I never know about the cringe parts until I am well into the book.

--

For the Grossmans gravy (as written) we have:

1 cup water

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon MSG

A pinch pepper

2 teaspoons cornstarch together with 2 tablespoons water

“First you should boil the cup water and then add all the other things. Stir for half a minute and pour over each serving. This will make 2 people nice and full and it makes a good change from bagels and lox on a Sunday morning.”

--

By this time, gravy had won the Foo Young wars.

When I started eating it, in the early 1970s, the gravy was uber thick.

I noticed a change over the years, which contact creator Jason Farmer explores in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBhxiEJ1RMk

Aside from the two styles of Foo Young gravy I’ve talked about so far, he brings up how Chinese restaurants had been making a roux-based gravy for Americans in the 70s & 80s. He says the more modern style is to go to cornstarch as a binder, making a more translucent gravy. This takes us back to what I had seen in the old cookbooks.

His preferred ‘modern’ recipe is stock-based I’ve discussed.

That is the style I developed prior to seeing his video but kept Kosher & vegan. I also cook my sauce in a microwave-safe liquid measuring cup so I don’t use more than one burner, and make the gravy in a container from which it is easy to pour.

**

C. “Fill ‘er up.”

Unless you are trying to measure everything out for posting on a website, and overly fascinated with the history of your subject, this comes together quickly.

For your filling, bean sprouts are a must. Most common are mung bean sprouts. A farm that grows those locally also grows soybean sprouts, which have higher protein and macro nutrients, so I started buying the soybean sprouts instead. Otherwise, they are virtually identical.

The bean sprouts give bounciness and crunch to the dish. You’ll get it when you chew it.

Other vegetables are your choice. Some folks use a Foo Young to clear out their fridge; and it is a good vehicle for that.

I’ve been making mine with fresh and frozen vegetables, and sometimes tofu. My latest was with onion, scallions, celery, bell peppers, poblano peppers, and Char Siu inspired enoki mushrooms.

Unless you hate or can’t have alliums, throw in some sliced-up onions.

Some sliced white mushrooms are easy, inexpensive, and flavorful. Let them be raw to completely cook into the mix or roasted for more depth of flavor.

Spinach, cabbage, carrots, all are welcome here.

For the firmer vegetables, do par-cook or roast first. A chunk of raw carrot would not be pleasing to come across, but shredded carrot can go in raw and cook through.

When I figure out how to make crispy chickpeas taste like Char Siu (translate that to Chinese Barbeque for the best way I can describe it), those will be going in a Fu Young.

I’ve used frozen broccoli (ensuring there was a hechsher) and cauliflower, broken to smaller size – a full-size floret is just too big to incorporate with everything. Make sure all your vegetables can share space on a fork or in a spoon. A spoon is a great way to eat this when served with rice or quinoa so you get everything all in one satisfying perfect bite, and you don’t drop anything – or drip gravy on your shirt - on its way to your mouth.

D. “Faux Young, Assemble!”

Since there are so many ways to make a Foo Young, I’ve opted for one with simple fillings. Besides the bean sprouts, you likely have the other filling ingredients right to hand.

So, at last, the recipe:

Mushroom & Onion “Egg-Faux” Young

- Yield: Two servings

Equipment:

- A large nonstick pan

- A large mixing bowl

- A standard size whisk (French or balloon doesn’t matter)

- A small whisk or utensil with which you can mix ingredients in a measuring cup

- A two-cup, microwave-safe glass measuring cup

- A bowl scraper or spatula

**

Ingredients:

For the pan:

1.5 tablespoons neutral high-heat cooking oil (sunflower oil does the job for me)

Filling:

½ cup julienned onions or shallot

Whites of one green onion – save the green section for garnish

¼ cup celery – thinly cut on the bias

¼ cup julienned peppers

1 clove minced garlic

¾ cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup bean sprouts

Salt to taste

Faux Egg

½ cup chickpea flour

¾ teaspoon Baking Powder

2 teaspoons nutritional yeast

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon granulated garlic

½ teaspoon white pepper - ground

½ teaspoon black salt (Kala Namak)

1/8 teaspoon turmeric

½ cup plant-based milk

1/8 cup (1 ounce) water

Gravy

½ teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder

½ teaspoon mushroom powder (I use Trader Joe’s Mushroom & Company Umami Seasoning)

¼ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon white pepper

¾ teaspoon cornstarch

¾ cup veggie stock or broth

1 tablespoon gluten-free tamari

1 teaspoon agave or sweetener of choice

1 teaspoon seasoned rice vinegar

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Garnish

Green section of one green onion (scallion) – thinly cut on a bias

Sesame seeds (flavored or regular)

**

Method

Make sure your filling ingredients are sliced up and ready to go. They will be going into the pan in the order listed above.

Put the pan on medium-high heat.

In a large mixing bowl, add all the dry Faux Egg ingredients and combine with a whisk. Pour in the liquids slowly, whisking as you go to eliminate any lumps. Set aside.

In the two-cup measure, add all the dry Gravy ingredients and whisk to combine. Slowly pour in the stock, whisking to eliminate clumps. Add the tamari, agave (or other sweetener) and vinegar, being sure to blend thoroughly. Taste and add salt as needed.

Place the measuring cup in the microwave and cook on 30% power for four minutes.

While that is going, make sure the pan is hot, and add the neutral oil to it.

Once the oil is shimmering, add the onions or shallots, and the whites of the green onion. Sauté, stirring occasionally until sweated, then sprinkle on a pinch of salt.

Add the celery and peppers, stirring to combine.

When the celery’s color has changed, add the garlic & mushrooms with another pinch of salt, and give everything a quick toss to combine.

Check the gravy in the microwave. Give it a whisk and a taste. Adjust seasonings, and heat 20 seconds on high.

Go back to your pan. Toss the contents periodically until the mushrooms start to brown.

Add your sprouts to the pan with a final pinch of salt and toss to mix everything together.

Check the gravy again. It should be somewhat thickened. If it is too thick, whisk in a little more stock/broth and nuke it again for another 20 seconds. Otherwise, let it sit for now.

Back at your pan, it is time to add in the Faux Egg.

Reduce the heat to medium.

Grab your bowl and scraper. Pour the Faux Egg mix over the veggies in the pan – focus on getting it centered on everything and thoroughly scrape out that bow.

Using a spatula, fold the ingredients over each other in the pan, until the Faux Egg covers everything. If you want two patties, this is when you divide the mix into two in the pan.

Let the patty (or patties) cook until the underside starts to brown. Flip the Faux Young to let the other side brown.

Go back to your microwave. Whisk the gravy, heat for 10 seconds on high, then remove from the microwave. Add in the Sesame oil and whisk to combine.

Get your plates ready; add any rice, quinoa, or other side dish.

When the second side is browned, plate the Faux Young and either pour the gravy over, or put the gravy into individual containers to be added at each plate.

Got it? Good! Go nosh already!