This week I decided it would be nice to add a dab of Asian flavor to our keto.  I love Asian food – particularly Chinese and Thai, and I sure do miss the chinkys back home.

For the uninitiated, “chinky” is a term of endearment in England.  It’s the British nickname for a Chinese takeaway – those barren little store fronts with a few cheap chairs, a chipped, laminate countertop, a pile of newspapers and trashy magazines, a small TV hanging from one corner.  You’re greeted by whichever family member happens to be available at the moment.

After 5 minutes of being entertained by a wok-clanging, sizzling kerfuffle out back – punctuated by a lot of yelling in mandarin – you’re out the door with a plastic carrier bag packed full of identical foil containers with cardboard lids, stacked on top of one another, and each one crammed to the brim with delicious made-in-minutes authentic Chinese food.  I have yet to find Chinese food in Washington State that tasted anywhere near as good as the Chinese take-away of my homeland.  I miss it.  Some days I want to fly to England just to have a big old plate of Chinese – prawn crackers on the side.  That’s how much I miss it.

There’s nothing quite like a Saturday night at home with a Chinese take-away and a good movie, curled up on the couch with someone nice.  That trifecta of Saturday night awesomeness has not happened in, oh, over 13 years.  Let’s make Egg Foo Yung!  That and a good movie and I’ll be two-thirds there.  Throw in a cat – or five six – and it won’t be half bad. 

I deliberately made this recipe lazy.  I mean, who has the time or inclination to make a separate sauce to drizzle over your Egg Foo Yung?  Not me.  So I just mixed the sauce right into the egg.  I admit, it’s not the same as the real thing, but you get the flavor, and that was my goal.  More laziness – bake them in the oven instead of dragging the wok onto the stove top, heating oil, and fiddling with layers of egg and veggies.  Easy.  Lazy.  Who cares?

These gorgeous little eggy omelets are bursting with vegetable goodness.  They are super-moist because you do not pre-cook the veggies.  They’re super-simple, speedy to sling together and make an awesome keto breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack.  They puff up like little prima donna soufflés in the oven, and look fantastic when you take them out.  Sadly they collapse as they cool, but the crispy, crunchy veggies, and the sweet sassy flavor remain.

I use Bragg’s Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce – which is made from wheat.  Of course, the small amount of soy sauce that is in here won’t kill you – or bring your keto to a grinding halt – but if you are gluten-free, or if you’re like me and don’t keep soy sauce in the house, then Bragg’s Liquid Aminos are a great alternative.  Mirin is a low-alcohol rice wine and is used just for flavor.  You can leave the mirin out, the flavor just won’t be as good.  I found it in my local Fred Meyers, so I am hoping no one has difficulty finding it.  You could also leave both the Bragg’s and the mirin out and dip the Egg Foo Yung in your favorite Chinese dipping sauce instead – although these will likely contain wheat and sugar.  For those with a Trader Joe’s at hand, their Balsamic Glaze drizzled over the top would be a brilliant and easy sauce.

I’ve already eaten 12 of these veggie-packed protein dynamos, and they’ll be in my lunch box every day this week.  Well, depending on if I can resist eating them for dinner too.

享受 !