Whisk water into eggs and steam in a cute cup to bring joy to any home cooked meal. Infinitely customisable with topping options, and vegetarian friendly.

Time: 2/5
Mix it, whisk it, steam it. Not much else to it!

Effort: 3/5
Extra dishes are extra dishes, although the dishwasher does make cleaning up much easier.

Less is More

茶碗蒸し (Chawanmushi) is very similar to Chinese steamed eggs (蒸水蛋, jing sui daan; literally, steam-water-egg). Both are silky smooth, savoury egg custards that are very customisable, with a variety of options for toppings. 

The key distinction (or at least as far as I can tell) is that while Chinese steamed eggs are served in a wide, shallow dish, chawanmushi is served in a cute little cup.

It’s a great side dish to upgrade a meal and make it feel fancy, for surprisingly little effort and calories. It’s also a great recipe for kids, or the young at heart. Because the fillings tend to sink to the bottom, you can turn this into a treasure hunt of sorts as you dig around in the custard and try to figure out what’s below the surface.

My version is a hybrid between the traditional Japanese recipe (and I happily cite Just One Cookbook as the gold standard) and the Cantonese version that I grew up eating. The technique is very similar, as both recipes whisk water into egg to make the texture extra soft and smooth.

The difference comes from the source of umami: instead of dashi, I rely on dried scallops (also known as conpoy). And of course, dried shiitake mushrooms are always welcome. Dried shrimp would work very similarly too, much like it does in my recipe for hairy cucumber and glass noodle stew.

The results speak for themselves. What was a utilitarian chicken and rice dinner now feels like a sit down meal at a restaurant, because of an understanding of the principles behind recipes, familiarity with what roles certain ingredients play, and the confidence to give things a fry. Another win for home cooking!

Posts since the last recipe that was actually served with rice: 0

Dramatis Personae

Served two.

2 dried shiitake mushrooms 

Give them a rinse before soaking in fresh water, to get rid of any dust and grit might have settled onto them.

The stems are too tough to eat, but they bring additional flavour. You can either rehydrate and discard the stems, or save the dried stems for another day. Steep in water to make shiitake stock to reinforce soups and stews – like this winter melon and duck soup.

Several pieces of dried scallop, about 10g

Like with the shiitake mushrooms (or indeed most Chinese dried goods), rinse before you soak. They’re here for savouriness, just like dried shrimp, so you can often use either or both in any recipe.

Once they’ve softened you can smoosh them apart by pressing them with your thumb to increase the amount of surface area. This lets more flavour out into the egg custard. Alternatively, leave the dried scallops whole so you get these small bites of concentrated umami.

60ml water from rehydrating shiitake and scallop

An essential ingredient. It’s liquid gold! The more water you whisk into the egg, the silkier the custard will be. I weighed out an equal ratio of egg to water, but feel free to just eyeball it. You’ll get great results with anything from 50 to 200% of the weight of the egg.

1 egg

Basically acts as a binder, to set the umami rehydrating liquid (which is arguably the main character) into a gel. You should cover the eggs when you steam them, to avoid water dripping into the cups and pockmarking the smooth surface. You also want to steam the eggs gently to avoid the formation of bubbles in the custard – either using clingfilm with a breathing hole, or using a clean towel.

Scallions for garnish

Pretty food tastes better. A pop of colour adds visual interest, and the scallions also add some fresh allium flavour to contrast the taste of the egg. Grow your own scallions and save money down the line.

Executive summary

1. Separate the shiitake stems from caps. Give the shiitake and dried scallops a rinse.
2. Rehydrate the shiitake and scallops in cold water overnight, or in very hot water for 30 minutes. Reserve the rehydrating liquid.
3. Bring water to a boil. Meanwhile, finely dice the shiitake caps, shred the scallops, and place both at the bottom of the serving vessel.
4. Beat the egg with an equal amount of rehydrating liquid, and strain into the serving vessel through a fine meshed sieve.
5. Cover the top of the serving vessel with clingfilm, and poke a hole in the middle. 
6. Steam the eggs on low heat for about 15 minutes, or until barely set and wobbly.
7. Serve hot.

Play by Play

I’m rehydrating my dried goods with very hot water to speed the process up. The colour comes mainly from the shiitake mushrooms, and it’s a good indicator that the water has plenty of flavour now.

Once the dried stuff is rehydrated, dice them fine and put in the bottom of the cups. You can use any toppings (bottomings?) you like: fish cakes, imitation crab, whatever you want. Just make sure it’s something that will cook during the short time that the eggs get steamed for.

You don’t have to do this at all, but I was curious what my water to egg ratio is like when I eyeball the amounts. Turns out it’s pretty much 1 to 1.

Whisk the egg mixture together, and strain to get rid of any bubbles.

Covering the eggs while they steam will prevent any water from dripping down and disturbing the otherwise perfectly smooth surface of the egg. I would prefer to use a clean towel for this, but I did not have one on hand so some clingfilm will have to do. Whichever option you use, make sure the custard can breathe.

Cover the chawanmushi, and steam gently for 10 or 15 minutes.

In the meantime, I pan-seared some mayonnaise-marinaded chicken left over from when I made chicken fajitas. It’s some protein to make this a complete meal, along with some extra rice and veggies.

Dinner is served! The nice part about steaming the custard in the cup is that the whole assembly stays warm for a long time.

Wubba wubba … wubba wubba … it’s so jiggly it slides down your throat. You drink it more than you eat it.

Race your dinner buddy to the bottom of your chawanmushi, and discover what’s underneath the jiggly savoury jelly!

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