Shrimp Egg Foo Young – China Sichuan Food

Developed from the Cantonese classic Egg Foo Young with leftover char siu, this shrimp egg foo young (鲜虾芙蓉蛋)is a basic, quick, and comprehensive dish. We use a deep-frying method for this shrimp egg foo young, but a fast and healthier pan-fried version can also be adopted. It combines well with steamed rice and egg foo young sauce.

Egg foo young, also a Chinese omelet, originated in Cantonese cuisine. When it comes to egg omelets, people in other provinces love to add fewer ingredients, usually single ingredients like green onion omelet or fresh pepper omelet (青椒煎蛋). But Cantonese egg foo young has several different features.

1. We add extra side ingredients to the egg liquid. I love bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and scallions.
2. Cantonese egg foo young is served with egg foo young sauce, which is actually a dark brown sauce, mainly soy sauce and starch. The sauce enhances its flavors since it is usually served directly with rice.

Restaurant-style egg foo young with super crispy shells is deep-fried instead of pan-fried. I will guide you through making the deep-fried shrimp egg foo young today, and you can apply this method to any type of egg foo young.

Egg Foo Young Sauce

Let’s make the sauce before making the egg foo young. Start by mixing the cornstarch with water. Pour light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, and pepper into a pot. Start with a middle-to-slow fire, then stir as you heat the sauce until it reaches a consistency similar to oyster sauce. This step is not fancy; it only requires the right ratio and patience for the right consistency.

The sauce should have a thickened but slightly running texture.

Make Shrimp Egg Foo Young

• Cut the shrimp into finger-sized pieces.
• Mix shrimp with a whisked egg, add bean sprouts, shredded carrots, scallion, salt, and pepper, and combine everything well. You may use other ingredients that complement fresh prawns well.

How to deep fry the shrimp egg foo young

We will need a stainless steel scoop to deep fry egg foo young so it can hold a round shape.

1. Heat the oil to around 180 degrees C (360 degrees F).
2. First, brush oil on the scoop to help the shaped shrimp egg foo young move out. Pour the batter into the scoop.
3. Then, dip the scoop into the oil and let it stay for 10 to 15 seconds until it forms the basic shape.
4. Then remove the egg cake from the scoop and let it deep-fry for another 20 seconds or until golden brown.

The deep-fried egg foo young can puff up very quickly, so there are many holes inside that can absorb the brown sauce. That’s the most delicious version for me.

Now comes my favorite part: transfer the deep-fried egg foo young to steamed rice and drizzle the brown sauce on top. Break the egg into chunks and eat with the rice.

• 2 large eggs , room temperature recommended
• 2 tbsp. minced shrimp
• 1 small bunch of bean sprouts , around 100g, root removed
• 1 scallion shredded
• 1/4 tsp. salt + 1/8 tsp. ground pepper
• Oil for pan-frying or deep-frying

Brown Sauce

• 1 cup chicken broth or water
• 1 tbsp. light soy sauce + 1 tsp. dark soy sauce ,dark soy sauce can give the sauce a deeper color.
• 1 tbsp. corn starch
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/2 tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground white pepper

Make the sauce

• Start by mixing the cornstarch with water. Pour light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, and pepper into a pot. Start with a middle-to-slow fire, and then stir as you heat the sauce until it reaches a consistency similar to oyster sauce.

• The sauce should have a thickened but slightly running texture.

Mix the mixture

• Cut the shrimp into finger-sized pieces.

• Mix shrimp with a whisked egg, add bean sprouts, shredded carrots, shredded scallion, salt, and pepper, and combine everything well.

How to deep fry the shrimp egg foo young

• Heat the oil to around 180 degrees C.

• First, brush some oil on the scoop. Pour the batter into the scoop.

• Then, dip the scoop into the oil and let it stay for 10 to 15 seconds until it forms the basic shape.

• Then remove the egg cake from the scoop and let it deep-fry for another 20 seconds or until golden brown.

Optionally pan-fried method

• I will recommend using a small casting pot for the best round shape. Fry until one side becomes golden brown, then turn over and fry the other. Once the two sides are fried golden brown, transfer the egg foo young to steamed rice and drizzle some brown sauce made in the beginning.

This recipe was firstly published in 2017 and updated with more details and video in 2025 

Calories: 221kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 479mg | Sodium: 801mg | Potassium: 203mg | Vitamin A: 575IU | Vitamin C: 5.5mg | Calcium: 118mg | Iron: 3mg