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Chawanmushi (Japanese Egg Custard)
Chawanmushi (Japanese Egg Custard)
- Preparation time 30 mins
- Serves 4 people
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An egg custard dish found in Japan, the name literally means 'steamed in a tea cup'. It is a savoury custard, originating hundreds of years ago and is one of the few traditional Japanese dishes you eat with a spoon and not chopsticks!
Ingredients
3 eggs
1 tsp sake
½ tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
approx. 2 cups dashi or unsalted chicken stock
1 chicken breast, cut into thin slices
1 tsp sake
1 tsp soy sauce
2 fresh shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
12 cooked ginko nuts
4 cooked prawns, peeled
mitsuba or baby herbs, to serve (optional)
Method
- Crack the eggs into a large measuring cup and mix gently without forming bubbles. Add the sake, salt and soy sauce and then an amount of stock that is three times the volume of the egg. Combine the egg and dashi together, stir gently and strain to remove any lumps.
- Place a few slices of chicken and shiitake in the base of a teacup. Pour the egg mixture over the chicken to about 3 cm from the top of the teacup. Burst any bubbles with a skewer. Steam over low heat for 12 minutes. Test the custard with a skewer. If the liquid that rises from a hole made with the skewer is clear, proceed to the next step.
- Gently arrange the prawn, ginko nut and a few slices of shiitake on top of the custard and pour over a little more egg mixture. Steam for a further 4 minutes, then serve with the mitsuba or baby herbs to garnish.
