chinese gravy

[pammie]

ok, I want to make a chinese gravy (to top my egg foo young)

basically it is a simple recipe
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbls soy sauce
1 tbls cornstarch

obviously I want to eliminate the cornstarch.

any ideas? ...and remember I live in japan so "exotic" ingredients are impossible...I do have a little soy flour I could try...

or if anyone else has a good idea for topping egg foo young I am more than happy to try out some ideas...(no tomato products please :tounge )

[not2late]

do you have any of the gum thickeners (guar, xanthum, etc.) available to you?

[pammie]

no..I do have psyllium husk, I have tried using them in curry once before and ended up with a clumpy, yucky mess!

[not2late]

I use psyllium husks in my brothy type soups. I use about 1 1/2 teaspoons for 1 cup of liquid.

[Heidi3]

take some oil and caramelize some onions to oblivion ...go slowly and cook all the water out until you have just caramel and onion paste then use that it is wonderful...you can also use any veggie puree you like as a thickener with that recipe..but onions cooked down work well and taste wonderful....nut powder thickens as does an egg yolk you just have to temper the egg yolk first

[cmcole]

what about some vital wheat gluten? That may work. I'd suggest cream, but that's not the texture you seek for that dish.

[Grillmaster]

I guess you are looking for a thickener... but for an alternative sauce, you might want to try adding a packet of Splenda (or Stevia, whatever) to sesame oil... add some soy sauce too if you like. I use this on my stir frys to make a sweet nutty taste.

You may also try an egg drop soup instead of egg foo yung -- essentially the same ingredients (chicken broth, soy) plus whatever you put in your "egg foo omelette", and there you go... just a thicker egg drop soup.

Hurry, it's almost Chinese New Year!

[pammie]

thanks for all the ideas.

some questions..how do you use the psyllium husk...I mean do you just dump it in after it is cooked, while boiling..or before?? when I used it before I boiled my sauce, took it off the heat and added the psyllium and got a mess...

the onion idea is good, thanks nurse...I actually use that a lot when I make curries, but I didn't want to put onions in this sauce, since i will have onions in the egg foo young...trying to save carbs :joy

vital gluten? never seen it here

you sesame oil sauce, is actually what I use to stirfry all the time, that and a dash of hot oil is fantastic for stirfrys!

egg drop soup...yuck..sorry, I have never liked it :joy