IN SEACH OF MR E.F. YOUNG AKA EFY

Day--23

I feel there is nothing more promising then a refrigerator full of those origami boxes that you get take-out with from Chinese restaurants. Yesterday when I had finished my lunch I asked to take my leftovers with me. I had to specifically ask for the little boxes with the wire handle. The guy was great when he understood what I wanted. He, of course wanted to use those ubiquitous Styrofoam boxes. My lunch was pretty gooey and those Styrofoam jobs just would not handle the job. I had copious amounts if gravy over my egg foo young and I wanted as much as I could so when I heated the left-over s (today) . He did a great job too taking special care to wrap the box with the gravy in plastic wrap making a perfect seal. I had to transport the food This way because I was traveling in my power wheelchair and would be stowing the containers in my back pouch .

Anyway, it worked. I was able to have a delicious lunch with lots of savory gravy and pallet cleansing rice. No don’t get we wrong. I enjoyed the restaurant an I enjoyed the leftovers today. But, as much as I enjoyed this food and flavor this is not the flavors I remember from my childhood. I am searching for an egg foo young like the egg foo(efy) young old Louie Fong used to make.

The House of Louie was this great Chinese restaurant which used to be located on Capitol Boulevard in Boise Idaho. Old Louie Fong ran the place as I remember. He had a brother Henlee Fong. There were a number of other Chinese restaurants in the Boise Valley in the 50’s and sixties when I was on the scene. The House of Louie is the restaurant we frequented most, two three times a year, when I was growing up . So, I did not have much of a variety of other efy’s to compare.

I understand that the ingredients egg foo young is probably as varied as the chef who make it but I would think there might be some similarities. The only similarities I see is that the efy is round, usually fried and flat. The efy’s I remember from the House of Louie, were round, of course, but literally stuffed with onion, green onions and bean sprouts and they were poofy and huge. The egg foo young would come your table three patties on one of those long oval plates that many Chinese dinners are served on. The patties would be covered with gravy: chicken, pork, shrimp, mushroom or beef. When ever I discover a new Chinese place I always order the EFY in hopes of finding a plump little patty similar to the ones I had the House of Louie of my youth. I have not found them yet. What I end up with small flat patties deep fried covered with gravy. These patties passing for EFY are constant too, no onions(Walla Walla or what ever), no celery . The EFY I had yesterday were a homogenized mixture ( but tasty) formed into a patties and deep fried—actually the patties were square I thought it was an ethnic jab at Wendys. I ‘m still over whelmed that I even found this great little place which will have to sustain until I ome across the next “Pearl of the Orient” or “Twin Dragon” and look for their elusive EFY.