Vietnamese Omelette Trung Chien

Sometimes you just need a quick, easy, and delicious meal that is also healthy and filling. This Vietnamese Omelette recipe (Trung Chien) is perfect for those times!

The omelette ingredients can be flexible, you can easily substitute ingredients to make it vegetarian, and it’s a great way to use up leftovers.

I personally enjoy the addition of pork, mushrooms, and fish sauce, to this omelette as it is a flavor sensation, and with the addition of rice and salad, the dish makes for a filling meal.

And it’s just as easy to cook a more generous amount for a family-style meal, as it is for cooking lunch or dinner for one or two people.

And the addition of fish sauce adds that special umami flavor to the omelette, making it even more decadent.

Vietnamese Omelette Recipe (Trung Chien)

Ingredients

• 5 pasture-raised eggs
• 150 grams of ground pork mince
• 5 dried wood ear mushrooms
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 shallot
• Glass noodles (Mien)
• 4 stems of spring onions
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Ingredients Overview

Eggs

Use the freshest eggs available, preferably pasture-raised: they taste better, they’re more nutritious, and you are supporting local suppliers.

Wood Ear Mushrooms

Rehydrated wood ear mushrooms provide a slightly crunchy texture, a little added bite, and a meaty flavor and are a good source of fiber, and contain many vitamins and minerals. They are also low in calories and fat.

Dried wood ear mushrooms can be bought at your local Asian supermarket or on Amazon.

Glass Noodles

Glass noodles are used in this recipe for their texture. They add a chewy element to the Vietnamese omelette and also help to bind all of the ingredients together. They are also low in calories.

Mien noodles can also be bought at your local Asian market or on Amazon.

Fish Sauce

Dried wood ear mushrooms can be bought at your local Asian supermarket or on Amazon.

Fish sauce is used in this recipe for its flavor. It adds a salty, umami element to the omelette and helps to bring out the flavors of the other ingredients.

Instructions for cooking Vietnamese Omelette

1. Soak the glass noodles and dried wood ear mushrooms in hot water for 15 minutes. 

2. Finely chop the shallot, garlic, and spring onion

3. Whisk the eggs, fish sauce, and salt and pepper

4. Slice the hydrated wood ear mushrooms

5. Use scissors to cut the mien noodles into about 2-inch lengths

6. Add mushrooms, glass noodles, and spring onion to the egg mixture and mix well

7. Add shallot to the pan and cook for one minute on medium heat.

8. Add garlic and fry for another minute

9. Add pork mince and fry until just cooked through on a medium heat 

10. Add egg mixture to the cooked pork in the frying pan and make sure the ingredients are spread out. Lower the heat a little and cook until the omelette starts to set. 

11. Once the omelette is cooked 2/3rds of the way through flip the omelette and continue to cook until the dish is golden brown and ready. 

12 Add a few chopped sliced green onion on top, more of the omelette and serve hot.

Substitutions

This recipe is easily adaptable to whatever ingredients you have on hand. If you don’t have any dried wood ear mushrooms, you can substitute them with any other type of mushroom.

Spring onions can be substituted with green onions or chives.

Glass noodles can be substituted with rice noodles or vermicelli noodles, or even bean sprouts.

Fish sauce can be substituted with soy sauce for the salty flavor, salt and vinegar adding acidity and maintaining saltiness, or for more depth of flavor, try oyster sauce or beef broth.

Ground pork mince can be substituted with other ground meat or tofu.

Tips for Making Vietnamese Omelette

To make this recipe gluten-free, simply substitute the glass noodles with rice noodles or vermicelli noodles.

Tofu can be substituted for pork.

If you are trying to increase your protein intake, you can add more egg whites to the mixture

The key to flipping the omelette is to use a non-stick pan and when the Vietnamese Omelette is cooked about two-thirds the way through, slide the omelette onto a plate, turn the pan upside down to cover the plate, then flip the plate and pan at the same time.

I like to serve Vietnamese Omelette with rice and a fresh salad, with soy sauce and fish sauce for dipping.

Storage Instructions

This Vietnamese Omelette can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or on a hot pan before serving.

Conclusion for Vietnamese Omelette

This Vietnamese egg omelette is one of those quick and easy recipes that are perfect for a weeknight dinner or weekend lunch. This dish is packed with flavor and can be easily adapted to whatever ingredients you have on hand. 

Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe! If you liked this dish, you may be interested in one of these other recipes.