A delicious Chinese-style omelet loaded with bean sprouts, shallots, and succulent shrimp topped off with a savory gravy. This quick and easy egg foo young is ready in 15 minutes with simple ingredients! A great main or side dish for the family.
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Egg Foo Young is a fluffy Chinese omelet made of beaten eggs, crunchy bean sprouts, juicy shrimp (or protein of choice), and shallots with a thick brown gravy and spring onions.
This Asian omelet is popularly served at Chinese restaurants or for takeout and best served with steamed rice and cooked vegetables.
The best part about this omelet recipe is you can make it at home with minimal ingredients in one-pan and swap out the protein or veggies for ones you enjoy.
Growing up, my parents would make this Chinese egg dish for us! It was the best way to satisfy a family of 5 and sneak in extra vegetables, protein or seafood into our diets.
My version is similar to my parents, where the omelet is shallow fried in less oil and not deep fried like at the restaurant making it lower in calories.
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil or any heavy scented oils.
- Green onions: optional garnish.
Omelet Mixture
- Fresh Large Eggs
- Jumbo shrimp: frozen or fresh large shrimp work or substitute with ground chicken, pork, beef, diced extra-firm tofu or cooked char siu.
- Bean sprouts: soy or mung bean sprouts will both work. Or substitute with julienned carrots, bell peppers, water chestnuts, or bamboo shoots.
- Shallots: or substitute with ½ cup onion.
- Sesame oil: for that nutty flavor or substitute with toasted sesame seeds. If you're allergic, omit it.
- Salt
- Black pepper or white pepper
Gravy Sauce
- Oyster sauce: this is a thick brown sauce made of oysters that adds a lot of umami flavor. Or substitute with vegetarian stir-fry sauce. If you're gluten-free: substitute with a gluten-free version.
- Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch or tapioca starch.
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Shaoxing wine: a Chinese rice cooking wine. Or substitute with Dry Sherry. For a non-alcoholic or gluten-free version, substitute with any broth.
- Sesame oil: substitute with toasted sesame seeds. If you're allergic, omit it.
- Low-sodium Chicken Broth: or substitute with vegetable broth, or beef broth.
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients or check Amazon.
Expert Tips
- Get easy peeled and pre-deveined shrimp to make cooking easier.
- Use a non-stick pan or a well-seasoned wok to make flipping and cleanup easier.
- Avoid moving the omelet around after the egg mixture goes into the pan and let it form a golden brown crust to easily flip it.
- To easily flip the omelet use a large spatula or slide the omelet onto a plate and invert it back into the pan.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make egg foo young:
- In a small bowl, combine gravy sauce ingredients and set aside.
- In a large bowl, crack and beat your eggs. Then add the rest of the omelet ingredients as listed to your beaten eggs. Mix well with chopsticks and set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a medium-sized pan (about 7-8 inches wide) or a wok on medium-high heat. Pour in omelet mixture into the hot pan and evenly spread out shrimp and other ingredients with chopsticks.
- Fry omelet on the first side for 3 minutes until the bottom is golden brown and crispy. Flip over with a large spatula and fry on the other side for 2 mins, until golden and crispy. Remove and transfer omelet to serving plate.
- Reduce to medium heat, pour in the prepared gravy sauce into the pan and simmer to thicken, about 1 minute.
- Pour thickened gravy over omelet and garnish with chopped green onions.
Storage
- This is best consumed immediately as shrimp tends to have a fishy taste the next day when reheated.
- But leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
- Freezer friendly? I don't recommend freezing egg foo young as the vegetables will become mushy.
Pairing Suggestions
Egg foo young serves well with:
- starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup
- white or brown rice, cauliflower rice, fried rice, chow mein, lo mein, plain noodles, soup noodles
- cooked vegetables like bok choy, spicy garlic bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, garlic green beans or stir fried snow pea leaves.
- protein dishes like Orange Chicken, Lemon Chicken, Cashew Chicken, Mongolian Beef, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Bang Bang Shrimp, Gochujang Chicken, Soy Garlic Tofu, Chinese Braised Tofu and more!
FAQ
Egg foo young can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. To reheat, microwave or in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat. Note: over time, the shrimp won't taste as fresh so it's always best to enjoyed seafood dishes immediately.
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📖 Recipe
15-min. Easy Egg Foo Young
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil for cooking
- ½ green onion finely chopped for garnishing
Omelet
- 3 large eggs
- 4 oz jumbo shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 cup bean sprouts soy bean or mung bean sprouts work
- 2 small shallots finely diced
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Gravy Sauce
- ½ tablespoon oyster sauce or vegetarian stir-fry sauce
- ½ tablespoon cornstarch or potato starch/tapioca starch
- ½ teaspoon regular soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon Shaoxing wine or dry sherry wine or any broth of choice for a non-alcoholic version
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ cup chicken stock low-sodium or use beef or vegetable stock
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine gravy sauce ingredients and set aside.
- In a large bowl, crack and beat your eggs. Then add the rest of the omelet ingredients as listed to your beaten eggs. Mix well with chopsticks and set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a medium-sized pan (about 7-8 inches wide) or a wok on medium-high heat. Pour in omelet mixture into the hot pan and evenly spread out shrimp and other ingredients with chopsticks.
- Fry omelet on the first side for 3 minutes until the bottom is golden brown and crispy. Flip over with a large spatula and fry on the other side for 2 mins, until golden and crispy. Remove and transfer omelet to serving plate.
- Reduce to medium heat, pour in the prepared gravy sauce into the pan and simmer to thicken, about 1 minute.
- Pour thickened gravy over omelet and garnish with chopped green onions.
Carrie
This is quite easy and amazing flavor. My husband and I have made this recipe a few times and enjoy it very much. I increased egg count by 1 and used cooked chicken leftover from a roasted chicken dinner, I also doubled the gravy as we really enjoy the flavor, thank you for sharing
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and so glad you and your husband enjoyed it with the extra ingredients!
Pam
Made this for a family dinner following your recipe exactly. This was the best egg foo young I have ever made. Not a smidgen leftover! So much easier making one large patty rather than individual ones. Instead of trying to turn it over with a pancake turner, I slid it onto a plate, covered the uncooked side with the frying pan then flipped it over. You can make the gravy in the same frying pan, slide the cooked omelette back in on top of the gravy, cover with your serving plate and flip it right side up. Comes out just perfect.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and so glad your family liked it! Appreciate you sharing your tips!