Egg foo yung or egg foo young (also spelt as egg fooyung, egg foo yong or egg furong) is an American-Chinese dish that is essentially an omlet made with beaten eggs and minced ham. Vegetables and seafood are often used as ingredients in some restaurant versions of the omelet. The egg furong is served as a folded omlette with all the non-egg ingredients mixed in the preparation. It is served with gravy (brown gravy) or a sauce and is often served as a take away in a container. Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia have their own unique recipes for the dish, the name of which comes from the Cantonese language.This preparation is inspired by the Fu Yung Egg Slices – a kind of egg dish popular in Shangai. 

Origin of Egg Foo Young
Egg fu yung , was popularized throughout America in 1970’s through eateries owned by expatriate Chinese restaurateurs. There are food historians who believe that this dish might have been influenced by Denver Omelet or Western omelet.  As per a legend, a hungry cowboy demanded a Chinese cook to make a sandwich to satiate his hunger. The cook prepared oriental omelet from vegetables and meat that were available in his kitchen. The cook served this omelet by placing it between slices of bread. This hasty sandwich creation became one of the popular American sandwich prototypes enjoyed throughout America and Britain.

Egg Foo Yung Recipe: Ingredients and Preparation Overview
The ingredients and method of preparation foo yung largely vary owing to the individual taste preferences.  Practically, any type of the meat can be used for the dish preparation. Shrimp, beef, and sea food are some of the popular choices for making this oriental omelet.

Shrimp/beef, cabbage, eggs, green onion, water chestnut, vegetable oil, and soy sauce are the ingredients required to make the dish. The sauce to be served with the omelet can be prepared using ingredients like mirin, sugar, oyster sauce, and soy. The omelet preparation begins by mixing meat, veggies and eggs, in a bowl and proceeds by cooking them in a skillet. The sauce is prepared by cooking all the ingredients together in a saucepan. The omelet is warmed in  an oven prior to serving and is served with a sauce.

Egg Foo Young Cooking Tips
 

• Flavor of the egg fu yung can be accentuated by serving it with sauce.  The brown sauce that is served along beef with broccoli works for this dish too.
• The choice of ingredients can be largely altered as per one's imaginations. Barbecued pork, Chinese sausage, tofu and shrimp are some of the popular ingredients used in the preparation of the dish. Vegetables like mushrooms, green onion, sprouted mung beans and onion are regularly used in the preparation of the dish.
• Vegetables should be stir-fried or blanched before combining with egg mixture to coax more flavor out of them.
• Eggs should be lightly beaten for the desired smoothness.
• The meat and vegetables used for cooking should be thinly sliced.
• The ingredients should not be directly added to the pan with egg, instead they should be combined with egg before cooking.
• The sauce should be prepared beforehand.
• The eggs should be formed into one large pancake or small pancakes.

Popular Regional Variations of Egg Fooyung

• St. Paul Sandwich, served in many of the American – Chinese restaurants operating in St. Louis , Missouri is known to be a more defined and popular regional variation of the dish. The egg foo yung patty is served with dill pickle and mayonnaise and at times tomato, and lettuce is stuffed between two pieces of white bread.