Chawanmushi (Japanese savory egg custard)

茶碗蒸し

Adapted recipe from Just One Cookbook

Ingredients

3 eggs

Dashi/Chicken stock (2.5 x weight of eggs)

1 teaspoon mirin

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

Fillings (I put crabsticks, gingko nuts and carrot. You can add chicken or shrimps).

Garnish (I put parsley and dill)

1 spoonful of love

->  points to note on fillings:

° For gingko nuts, I use fresh/raw ones which I had earlier removed from its shells and frozen them for use in desserts/dishes. Boil the nuts for 5 mins and leave them in the pot to cook in residual heat).

° For chicken, you need to marinate with sake and salt, and pan fry until the sides are lightly browned before you use them as fillings.

Method

1. Prepare fillings, marinate them (for chicken and shrimps only) and place in cups/bowls. 

2. Lightly whisk eggs and make sure not to make the egg mixture frothy.

3. Add dashi/ chicken stock and seasoning (mirin, soy sauce, salt) to the eggs. Sieve the egg mixture through a fine mesh sieve so that the texture of the chawanmushi will be very smooth.

4. Pour the egg mixture into prepared cups/bowls. Remove bubbles on the surface of the egg mixture in the cups/bowls (this is to make sure the chawanmushi will be smooth). Cover the cups/bowls with aluminium foil (to prevent water from the steamer/wok/pot cover from dripping into the chawanmyshi).

5. Bring the water in steamer/wok/pot to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and place the cup/bowls on the steaming tray in the steamer/wok/pot. Steam for 20 mins and use a skewer to test whether the chawanmushi is set. It is done when when you insert a skewer into the egg mixture and it comes out clean.

6. Leave the cups/bowls in the steamer/wok/pot for 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Note to self: 

To use only salt for seasoning to keep this dish even simpler. For 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon of salt should suffice.