Skip to main content
egg foo yong

egg foo yong

1 6.9
A Chinese omelette made with vegetables and meat, served with brown sauce
  • noun
  • /ɛɡ fu jɔŋ/
translation icon : huevo foo yong
  • The chef prepared a delicious egg foo yong with fresh vegetables and shrimp.

Examples

  • I ordered an egg foo yong for dinner at the Chinese restaurant.

  • Whenever I visit my favorite diner, I always choose the egg foo yong on the menu.

  • Her recipe for egg foo yong includes bean sprouts and mushrooms.

  • I ordered the egg foo yong with shrimp at the new Chinese restaurant.

  • The egg foo yong came with a savory brown gravy on the side.

  • I ordered an egg foo yong for lunch.

  • They love egg foo yong with extra sauce.

Synonyms

omelet
vsegg foo yong
  • US
76 1.0

A cooked dish of mixed eggs folded around fillings like cheese or vegetables

is a particular Chinese form typically including celery and served with sauce
egg fu yung
vsegg foo yong
6.1

A Chinese omelet with beaten eggs, vegetables, and meat served with sauce

is identical in meaning but spelled or written differently

How Substantial

frittata
12 6.3
egg foo yong
1 6.9
omelet
  • US
76 1.0

Surface Forms

egg foo yong singular
egg foo yongs plural

Morphology

egg + foo + yong

Although the first constituent 'egg' is transparent, the following elements 'foo' and 'yong' are non-English/opaque items (loanword components) with no independent lexical meaning for an English learner. The overall phrase is a culinary loanword/name for a Chinese-style omelette whose meaning cannot be predicted from the known constituent 'egg' plus two uninterpretable parts, so it is not derivable by a B1 learner.

Etymology

The noun egg foo yong comes from a Chinese name 'fu yung' that means 'hibiscus' or 'lotus' and points to the egg's fluffy, flower-like look. So the name came to mean the Chinese-style omelette with eggs, vegetables and meat, often served with a brown sauce.