i used to work next to a chinese restaurant, where for four dollars you could get a slammin vegetable egg foo young. i realized after a while that despite the assurances of the owner there was no way the sauce could be vegetarian and i stopped ordering it. it's been over two years since i worked there but the fancy has never quite left my mind, so the other night i made an attempt. everything went well, and the end result was quite good, although the sauce needs a bit of work.i used just a cup of vegetable stock plus a tablespoon each of soy sauce and sugar, thickened with a bit of cornstarch. the result was rather pallid, but tasted ok. in my mind it needs to be much thicker and darker - ideas for the future: worcestershire, vegetarian oyster sauce, hoisin... anyway the patties themselves were decent, allow about one egg per patty, two patties per person. for two:
- 4 chicken eggs
- 1 carrot, grated
- an equal amount of daikon (i used about a two inch piece from a big honker), grated
- 1 rib celery, sliced thinly
- 3 scallions, chopped
- ~2 cups loosely packed bean sprouts
- 1 shallot, sliced thinly
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- thumb sized piece of ginger, minced
heat a large cast iron or nonstick pan over medium heat with enough oil to liberally coat the bottom. add 2-3 ounces of egg mixture at a time, and using a spatula keep folding the edges over the center of the mass to form a patty. fry on both sides until quite golden (i like some dark crispy bits on mine). keep warm in a low oven until ready then serve doused with sauce next to rice.
of course the veg herein are totally mutable, this is a dish to empty out the fridge. i think what makes it authentic for me are the bean sprouts and the scallions, but i guess it's really just a chinese omelette.
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