NJ Girl Egg Foo Yung

When I was a kid in suburban NJ, Chun King brand products had to suffice in between monthly family outings to real Chinese restaurants. Egg Foo Yung is a typical dish in any old Chinese restaurant in NJ and NY, but I rarely find it on the menu here in CA. It's one of the dishes I crave on occasion, if not rather frequently, or maybe even: All the Time. What's a girl to do... make it at home, of course. It can become a project if you let it. Don't let it. 

Root around in your frozen seafood stash, and/or add any kind of leftovers, and it will magically morph into a hearty meal. There are many recipes online, but this is fast and easy and comes damn close to the flavors I remember. I'm not a stickler for ingredients- bean sprouts are important, but not a deal breaker. I make the gravy from the pan drippings.

1. Saute a bunch of minced garlic in oil. (peanut or olive) Do not brown.

1a. Grate fresh ginger into the pan and stir.

2. Add leftover Chinese broccoli or other vegetables, or bbq shrimp or whatever you want in there, and stir fry at med-high heat.

2a. Wet it down with soy sauce.

3. When reheated or mostly cooked, use a slotted spoon and pull these ingredients out of the pan into a bowl. The soy sauce will burn if the pan is too hot. If it burns, clean the pan and start over with the garlic and oil. You won't be able to mask the burned flavor, so don't even bother trying.

4. Reduce the remaining liquid on high heat, stirring frequently. Scoop this sludge out of pan and set aside. You can deglaze the pan with a splash of white Vermouth, if you like. Keep the pan dirty and on the dry side...

5. Add frozen seafood to the pan and turn the heat down. Simmer a few minutes. Return the other ingredients to the pan and let it all simmer until mostly cooked. (don't overcook). 

6. Once again, spoon off these ingredients to their own bowl, and add the remaining juices in the pan to the sludge you've set aside. Stir until blended. Let pan cool if it's starting to burn. (You can look up a more traditional brown gravy recipe, but you'll need to have thickeners and a bunch of ingredients on hand. I swear, this lazy version comes very close and tastes even better.)

7. Scramble eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add those other ingredients to the eggs, leaving behind the liquid that's settled in the bottom of the bowl (add this liquid to your gravy bowl and stir it until blended) 

8. Return pan to med-high heat and melt some butter in it. When the foam has subsided, pour the egg and stuff mixture in there. Stir a bit to mix it up and let the egg flow around the parts that have already cooked. The technique is somewhere between scrambling and omeletting. Treat it like a pancake, which it is. Let it cook all the way through without burning. Use a spatula to flip or fold over. You can make it large and share it, or make smaller individual portions.

9.  Serve immediately with the gravy poured on top. I like it best hot, but can be reheated, eaten cold or at room temp.