The result of all the variation is to stimulate the chef to think about and to select and create variants of the basic dishes to achieve particular results. As I have tasted many variations in different restaurants over many years I have developed my own set of standards. I started making pork egg foo yung in the 1970’s as a result of learning so much from my great friend Dora Clark who was Chinese and a great cook.
My early success was nice but there was a hiatus from Chinese cooking of twenty years as I was learning about different cuisines. A few years ago I again made pork egg foo yung and I was pleased with the result. Alas, my wife Marie did not care for any kind of Chinese food so I did not repeat my success. Then about a year ago I tried making it and it was a failure. Worse, I couldn’t initially figure out what went wrong. All I knew was that the puffy pancake effect didn’t happen and I wound up with scrambled eggs and too many other ingredients.
It is obvious that balance is necessary across all the ingredients for the egg to hold the mixture together. But recently I decided to make a pork and shrimp egg foo yung using my new (at least to me) Chinese cookbook. The recipes and variety of possible ingredients really piqued my interest. Beyond that I remembered my recent failure and I went into think mode to figure out how to make a truly superior egg foo yung with lots of filling ingredients and with a resulting attractive presentation, similar to a subgum egg foo yung.
This recipe is the result of my musings and an example of cooking creativity. My recipe is even healthier than those found in my new Chinese cookbook as I use less peanut oil than required for frying egg foo yung. What I did was realize that the dish could be made like miniature soufflés simply by adding some half and half to the raw beaten eggs. This is atypical of Chinese cooking as dairy products, especially milk products, are seldom used, for Chinese people often have difficulty digesting milk products. Then I used a non-stick mini bundt pan with six openings that each hold between a cup to a cup and a half of product in volume. I am grateful that Marie acquired the mini bundt pan sometime in the past. Do note that cupcake pans can also be used. In that situation you will make twelve somewhat smaller pieces of egg foo yung instead of the six large pieces when using the mini bundt pan.
Eureka! No longer did I have to create the pancakes of typical egg foo yung or worry about them holding together during frying. In fact, the frying of the egg mixture was eliminated entirely. All I did was lightly spray the non-stick mini bundt openings with Pam® (though I think greasing with butter is better). Then I simply ladled the egg and other ingredients mixture into the pan openings and baked them at 350º F for fifteen minutes. They came out totally perfect, they were attractive, and the bundt opening in the center of each serving was ideal later for holding some of the sauce I made to pour over the egg foo yung. Now I am most pleased to offer this recipe to you as I know it is very superior.
Oh, before I forget, white rice is a perfect accompaniment for this dish. I like basmati rice, and I typically season my serving of it with small amounts of sesame oil, Mongolian Fire Oil and soy sauce. You may want to cook the rice first. J
Ingredients:
Sauce:
2 tsp. of sesame oil
2 cups of chicken broth
1 tbsp. of cornstarch
2 tsp. of soy sauce
Egg, pork, shrimp and vegetable mixture:
½ lb. of raw lean pork (one thick pork chop), shaved and diced into 1/4" cubes, all fat removed
½ lb. of raw deveined shelled medium size shrimp cut into thin slivers
1 baby bok choy, chopped fine with green areas removed (about ½ cup)
1 small (6" long) stalk of celery, diced
¼ cup of sweet onion, shaved thin
1/2 cup of canned bean sprouts, drained
1/3 cup of canned bamboo shoots, drained and chopped
1/2 cup of fresh oyster mushrooms, chopped fine
2 scallions, finely diced, green areas included
8 jumbo eggs (or 10 extra large or 12 large)
¼ cup of half and half
¼ tsp. of black pepper
½ tsp. of sea salt
2 tbsp. of soy sauce
2 tbsp. of peanut oil
Butter or Pam® to coat the interior of mini-bundt or cupcake/muffin pan openings
Directions:
Turn one oven on and set it at 350ºF. Turn a second oven on and set it at 200ºF. Put an oblong serving casserole into the second oven, along with the dinner plates you will use for each guest, and a serving bowl for the rice.
Make the sauce by putting all of the sauce ingredients into a small saucepan and heating it to boiling on medium heat while stirring. When the sauce clarifies and thickens it is done and it can be poured into a two and one half cup serving bowl, which should then be placed on a saucer and put into the warm 200º F oven.
Prepare the pork and the shrimp as described above in the ingredients list. Use a wooden cutting board and a very sharp knife. Set them aside.
Prepare all of the vegetables as described in the list of ingredients and put them into a one quart bowl. Add the salt and pepper and soy sauce to the bowl and mix well.
Mix the eggs using an electric mixer on medium high speed for two to three minutes. Add the half and half and continue mixing for one minute. Set the mixture aside.
Put the peanut oil into a large Wok and heat the Wok on high heat until the oil is very hot. You can test how hot the oil is by putting a tiny piece of pork in it and seeing if it fries instantly. Put all of the pork into the oil and stir fry it rapidly with a thin hard polymer slotted spoon until it is lightly browned.
Add the shrimp pieces to the pork and stir fry the mixture rapidly until the shrimp is pink. Then remove the pork and shrimp pieces to a bowl. Set the bowl aside.
Drain the liquid from the vegetable/seasonings mixture and add all of the vegetables to the Wok and mix them well and stir fry the mixture for one minute. Cover the Wok with a lid and adjust the heat to medium and let the mixture steam for three minutes.
Dispense the stir fried vegetable mixture onto a large plate and let it cool to close to room temperature. Mix it gently a few times during the cooling period of about ten minutes to get the warmer parts exposed to air to aid the cooling process.
Add the cooled stir fried mixture and the pork and shrimp pieces to the egg and half and half mixture and stir well.
Rub some butter onto the surface of the six mini bundt pan or twelve cupcake pan openings, or alternatively spray a small amount of Pam® onto the surface of the mini bundt pan or cupcake pan openings.
Stir the egg foo yung mixture to assure even distribution of the ingredients and ladle equal amounts of the mixture into the bundt or cupcake pan openings. Typically that means dispense the solid ingredients and some of the egg mixture evenly into each opening, then divide the remaining egg mixture by pouring it on top of the dispensed solid ingredients, evenly. Push any solid pieces that may protrude above the surface of the egg mixture under it.
Bake the egg foo yung for 15 minutes at 350ºF.
Check for doneness. If you used a twelve openings cupcake pan the egg foo yung is definitely done. If you used the six openings mini bundt pan the pieces of egg foo yung are much larger, so you may need to bake them for five additional minutes.
Invert the mini bundt pan or cupcake pan above the warmed oblong serving casserole and shake it gently. The finished pieces of egg foo yung should fall out easily.
Serve the completed pork and shrimp egg foo yung along with the sauce.
Ladle the sauce evenly over each serving of the egg foo yung.
Serve the sauced egg foo young, along with the rice and seasonings on the side, and most any beverage. A light chilled white wine like Pinot Grigio is nice. You might also consider serving warmed sake in the traditional small sake cups.
Enjoy!