I love Chinese food. And that’s why I was sad to discover that my favorite Chinese take-out place had recently closed down. Actually it was bought out by a sushi joint – but either way, it’s gone.
Chinese food is one of those delights that I think is best left to the professionals and usually more economical to buy than to make at home. We were regular customers of that little steamy, clanky, Chinese kitchen. The man who ran the place, Harry,* was always glad to see us, especially on New Year’s Eve when we would order big.
I’ve since found another Chinese take-out that is quite good even though it is a further drive than my old favorite. My one little problem is their egg foo young gravy cannot compare to my old guy’s – not even close. In fact I have always found foo gravy to be somewhat bland and tasteless, that is until Harry arrived. So, what was Harry’s secret? Sesame. A good heaping tablespoon of Tahini paste and a few shots of sesame oil mixed into the gravy adds both taste and texture to an otherwise insipid glop of corn starch.
This recipe is a vegetable foo but feel free to use diced pork or even salad shrimp – if you’re so inclined.
Need This
4 Jumbo eggs (or 5 large)
1 red bell pepper (chopped)
1 bunch of scallion tops (the green part) chopped
1 – 8 ounce pack of white mushrooms (sliced)
1 cup of chicken broth
2 tablespoons dry white wine
Onion powder
1 heaping tablespoon of sesame tahini
2 teaspoons of soy sauce
Sesame oil
1 tablespoon of corn starch (dissolved in a little water)
Salt & ground black pepper
Cooked white rice
Do This
Hiss a little non-stick cooking spray into a large fry pan. Add the chopped red pepper and sliced mushrooms to the pan and put a medium heat under it.
Sweat the peppers and mushrooms for 5 to 7 minutes or until the mushrooms begin to shrink a little, then turn off the heat.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them up good.
Pull out the smallest fry pan you have available and spray it with cooking spray.
In the large fry pan divide the peppers and mushrooms into 4 equal piles.
Put a medium heat under the small pan.
When the pan is good and hot, pour one ladle full of the beaten egg into the pan.
Drop one of the pepper-mushroom piles over top of the sizzling egg and top that with a sprinkle of chopped green onion.
Flip the egg over onto the pan and fry the other side for about 1 minute, browning the egg slightly. Remove the egg patty to a warmed plate. Now make 3 more patties like that.
In a small sauce pot add your chicken broth, put a medium heat under it and bring the broth to a boil.
Add the white wine, soy sauce and a generous shake of onion powder to the simmering broth. Stir.
Now add the sesame tahini and 3 or 4 shots of sesame oil. Bring the sauce up to a rolling boil, add the diluted corn starch, and stir vigorously until the tahini is completely dissolved.
Reduce the heat. Add salt and pepper to taste and continue stirring until you achieve your desired viscosity.
Serve the patties over rice drenched in sauce or serve the sauce on the side.
Serve hot.
Serves 4. My cost approx. $ 6.85 total – about $ 1.72 per serving.
*Nooo. That’s not his real name. GMN