St. Paul Sandwich: Egg Foo Young on White Bread

St. Paul Sandwich: Egg Foo Young on White Bread

Having egg foo young leftover from dinner last night at Luo’s in Oak Park , and inspired by Mike Sula's reference to the St. Paul Sandwich on Food Chain , I was motivated to prepare one of these strangely delicious-sounding sammies for breakfast.

They’re easy to make.

1. Slam some foo on a few slices of white.



2. Add condiments. I took a pass on the mayo (no need; the thing is rich enough), though I did feel the need for something verdant and acidic. So I added the lettuce, pickles, and tomato (the last from this year’s garden) as seen in this exploded view:



3. Enjoy.

I thought it was right tasty, as did The Wife. Look at her; she loves it:



This is the best use yet for pickles I canned last summer: they are very salty and smushy, which fits right in with the other flavors and textures of this remarkable breakfast.

It's too funny that this deliciousness was invented in St. Louis.

David “Always in search of new culinary -- preferably cheap -- thrills” Hammond

When I tried that sandwich in St. Louis, oh, must have been 8 years ago maybe? I don't believe they used the egg foo yung gravy on it. Just wonder bread, mayo, pickles, lettuce, and an egg foo yung patty.

I remember not being blown away by it.

From another thread...

David Hammond wrote:[color=#004000]Tonight, The Wife had a bad tummy and was really in the mood for something not too challenging.

So what non-challenging thing did you eat tonight.

I actually had some Egg Foo Young leftover from Golden Wok this morning. Had I only known.

Panther in the Den wrote:I actually had some Egg Foo Young leftover from Golden Wok this morning. Had I only known.

This sandwich is the best possible use for leftover EFY.

David Hammond wrote:This sandwich is the best possible use for leftover EFY.

Hammond,

35 people just made short work of two full packer cut smoked briskets, bourbon brined chicken and smoked Polish sausage, with me consuming a belt loosening amount, and still I gaze fondly, hungrily, at your beaut of a St. Paul sandwich.

You are a true culinary adventurer.

Enjoy,
Gary

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:I remember not being blown away by it.

Make no mistake, I wouldn't put this sandwich up there with the Ten Best Bites of all time, but for breakfast, it was mighty fine. It's got the egg (a breakfast natural) with enough light spicing and other flavors going on to make it more interesting than the usual first meal of the day.

Egg foo young is sometimes discussed as though it were a joke, but there's no reason why it can't be prepared in a way that is quite tasty.

I once heard a Chinese girl in the office talking to her mother on the phone, "What we have for dinner?" Then in a voice dripping with disappointment, "Egg Foo Young?"

Just struck me funny.

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:When I tried that sandwich in St. Louis, oh, must have been 8 years ago maybe? I don't believe they used the egg foo yung gravy on it. Just wonder bread, mayo, pickles, lettuce, and an egg foo yung patty.

Correction: It must have been 6 years ago or less, 'cause I'm pretty sure we tried the sandwich after SaintPizza saw it mentioned on the PBS show Sandwiches That You Will Like

David Hammond wrote:

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:I remember not being blown away by it.

Make no mistake, I wouldn't put this sandwich up there with the Ten Best Bites of all time, but for breakfast, it was mighty fine. It's got the egg (a breakfast natural) with enough light spicing and other flavors going on to make it more interesting than the usual first meal of the day.

Egg foo young is sometimes discussed as though it were a joke, but there's no reason why it can't be prepared in a way that is quite tasty.

I actually kind of want to try it again now to see if I'd think any differently of it.

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:When I tried that sandwich in St. Louis, oh, must have been 8 years ago maybe? I don't believe they used the egg foo yung gravy on it. Just wonder bread, mayo, pickles, lettuce, and an egg foo yung patty.

I remember not being blown away by it.

I lived in St. Louis for 8+ years, eaten in HUNDREDS if restaurants at all price levels and have yet to see the St. Paul Sandwich. I think that I would be tempted to find one but there are so many better options ...

Point of order, Mr. Hammond:

Is the St. Paul sandwicdh eaten hot or cold?

jlawrence01 wrote:

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:When I tried that sandwich in St. Louis, oh, must have been 8 years ago maybe? I don't believe they used the egg foo yung gravy on it. Just wonder bread, mayo, pickles, lettuce, and an egg foo yung patty.

I remember not being blown away by it.

I lived in St. Louis for 8+ years, eaten in HUNDREDS if restaurants at all price levels and have yet to see the St. Paul Sandwich. I think that I would be tempted to find one but there are so many better options ...

We got it at the place mentioned in the documentary, which was a hole-in-the-wall carryout Chinese storefront on Gravois.

stevez wrote:Point of order, Mr. Hammond:

Is the St. Paul sandwicdh eaten hot or cold?

Good question.

Bread/lettuce/tomato/pickle cold. EFY warm.

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:We got it at the place mentioned in the documentary, which was a hole-in-the-wall carryout Chinese storefront on Gravois.

I lived six blocks from the restaurant and still do not remember the place.

This thread really got our taste buds flowing for some good egg foo yung. In googling around for a recipe, we found one that was very tasty! But not the real egg foo yung that we were thinking about for dinner. So now, does anyone have a tried-and-true recipe that they would be willing to share?

LTH,

Soon as I read Hammond's post I knew it was but a matter of time before I tried it myself, though I did put a little twist to the original.

Leftover Kow Kow egg fu young, New York Bagel and Bialy bialy, corned beef, lettuce and tomato. Interesting use of leftover egg fu young, though I should have heated the egg fu young just a bit more.

Reb Paul Sandwich



Enjoy,
Gary

This is a pretty old thread for me to bump (and it's funny to see how involved I was in the original discussion way back then) but I just published a writeup of the St. Paul sandwich the other day and I'm pretty proud of it, though I feel like there's more research to be done and I could have eaten a few more of them while I was in St. Louis. Anyway, if you're interested in the history of the St. Paul sandwich, the post is on my dumb website:



Enjoy!

As I mentioned on Sandwich Tribunal, Jim, you produced an excellent piece, and thanks for bumping this thread: I'd forgotten completely about it, and that I'd used lettuce on an earlier version I'd made.

Jefe/Eric May posted a dead sexy Instagram pic of a St. Paul Sandwich. Time for another round. #fuckthatsdelicious




St. Paul Sandwich, count me a Fan!

It's an honor to have triggered Gary's acute Pavlovian response.

I can't believe it took me so long to make myself one of these (my wife is not a fan of egg foo young, so its seldom ordered.) I loved it, the basic diner sandwich configuration makes the perfect vehicle for a chewy, greezy egg bomb.

As I remarked on Instagram though, to me the dirty flavor of suburban strip mall Chinese EFY is something I'd trash my kitchen trying to pull off. Gary was kind enough to share a recipe Luisa Chu posted at the Trib and Titus pointed me to the Lucky Peach rendition, both great options. I just worry it would come out tasting like a clean omelet.

Its pretty damn easy to order dry EFY (at just $3.95 for two patties!) at my local and slap together a sammich!

Jefe wrote:Its pretty damn easy to order dry EFY (at just $3.95 for two patties!) at my local and slap together a sammich!

Whoa, $3.95 for two patties!! Great Bejing is $10.95 for two, though they are Huge. The bride couldn't finish one for lunch, and I split the other crosswise made pictured sandwich and ate the other half with rice and EFY gravy a couple of hours later for a snack.

I agree with Eric, simply seems easier, and less messy, to buy but there is a certain satisfaction in rolling your own. Hat tip to Eric for the inspiration.

To anyone on the fence about the St. Paul sandwich, big payoff for little work and, to break out an old saw, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.