Hello hi everyone! Today we’re adding to our TV and film hack series with a request that a lot of folks have been asking for, which is a Chinese egg foo young. More specifically, we’ll be taking some inspiration from this comically racist scene from the 1970 disney film “the Aristocats," which was recently pulled from Disney Plus.
For those not familiar, egg foo young is a dish that actually does originate from traditional Chinese cuisine as a sort of “leftover egg scramble” of sorts, where restaurants essentially throw all of their leftover scraps into a wok with some eggs, scramble it like a frittata, and top it with a savory sauce. What a lot of folks might not realize though is that a truly traditional egg foo young is actually deep fried (not scrambled), giving it a much more crispy and fluffy texture than the more commonly found scrambled versions. Hope you try it!
Serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp (about 1 inch) ginger
2 green onions
1/2 medium sweet white onion
1/4 cup bean sprouts
4 eggs
2 medium chicken thighs
corn starch
peanut oil
kosher salt
shaoxing wine
INGREDIENTS (marinade)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp corn starch
INGREDIENTS (gravy)
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp doubanjiang
2 cups stock
2 tbsp corn starch slurry
PREP
CRUSH and MINCE the garlic, set aside
FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside
SEPARATE the green onions by whites and greens, slice, set aside
LARGE DICE the white onion, set aside
WHISK the eggs, then add a pinch of kosher salt, 1 tbsp shaoxing wine, and 1/4 of corn starch
LARGE DICE the chicken thigh, then combine with the marinade ingredients, and marinate for 30 minutes
COMBINE all gravy ingredients, set aside
COMBINE 2 tbsp corn starch with water into a slurry, set aside
COMBINE the eggs, marinated chicken, whites of the green onions, white onion, bean sprouts, and set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao
ADD chicken to the wok and sear for 2 minutes, flip, and then toss for 1 additional minute
ADD garlic and ginger to the wok, and bloom until fragrant (about 15 seconds)
REMOVE the chicken mixture from the wok, wipe down, reheat, and add the gravy mixture to the wok
ADD the corn starch slurry once simmering, then reduce until thickened
SEASON with kosher salt, and remove from heat
WIPE down the wok, and heat 12 oz vegetable oil to 375F
GENTLY add about 1/2 cup of egg mixture with a soup ladle to the fryer
FRY for 40 seconds, flip, and fry for an additional 60 seconds
SERVE over rice, and finish with the greens of green onions and gravy