Chawan Mushi茶碗蒸し

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About Chawan Mushi茶碗蒸し.

Chawan Mushi, or steamed egg custard in English, is one of the traditional dishes in Japan, born in the Nagasaki prefecture at the year of 1689.
The Chawanmushi is the steam egg dishes in a thick Tea cup which made by the eggs and dashi (bonito broth) mixture, seasoned with soy sauce and a little of salt, steam together with seafood, mushroom, and vegetables.

It is said that the Chawan mushi is origin from the Tojin Mansion (唐人屋敷) in Nagasaki, where is the only place that allows Chinese to roam around, and it is also a town like settlement, created by the Chinese who live inside. Until today, the steamed egg custard has changed in quality and become a famous item in the classic Japanese restaurant menu, and it also is the famous and well-known dish which loves by the Japanese over so many centuries, Furthermore, the Chawanmushi also thrive in another country with its soft and flavoursome taste.

No doubt there is no one will hate this smooth and juicy steam egg custard which bind with other pungent and mouth feel ingredients such as mushroom, fish cake, and others.

Chawan Mushi

Source

About the recipe

Chawan Mushi is an easy recipe could be done at home with simple ingredients and tools although it takes some time to steam. Imagine in this coming winter, there is a cup of steaming hot egg custard serve beside your main dish, it could warm your heart and body even in the cold snowy day. The steamer is not necessary to cook this dish, your could use a deep pan or pot instead, as long as there is water around the thick heat-resistant tea cup, it is still able to make, and you can even make it in the microwave oven. Lastly, I may not able to tell you about the dietary of the egg custard, but I am sure that this is one of the healthy dishes, depend on the less egg usage, and various ingredients use in the recipe, which will provide you a healthy diet.

Cook Time

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 10 min

Ready in: 20 min

Yields: 2 cups

Ingredients

• 1 nos           Medium egg
• 1 stripe        Chicken fillet, sliced into bite size
• 2                  Shrimps, Peel and deveined
• 2 pieces       Shiitake mushroom, cut a star on it
• 2 slices         Kamaboko (Japanese fish cake)/ white fish cube, if you can't get any kamaboko
• 2                  Ginkgo Nuts
• 2 stems        Mitsuba
• 1/2 cup        (A) Bonito Flakes broth / chicken stock, for the egg mixture
• 1/4 tsp         (A) Salt, for the egg mixture
• 1/2 tsp         (A) White Shoyu/ soy sauce, for the egg mixture
• 1 teaspoon     (B) Cooking alcohol/ Cooking Sake , to marinate the chicken fillet
• 1/2 teaspoon  (B) White Shoyu/ soy sauce, to marinate the chicken fillet

Ingredients

Lets steam

1. Mise en place: Slice the chicken fillet into bite size and tendon, marinate with the group (B) soy sauce and the alcohol. peel off the shell of the shrimp if any, deveined, then rub with cornstarch, rinse with water and wipe away all the moisture. Gently cut a star on the fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced in half if you feel it is too big. Cut the Mitsuba into 10 cm length and tight it up with a knot.
2. Arrange the mushroom, sliced chicken fillet, fish cake, shrimps and Ginkgo nut into the tea-cup, set aside for further use.
3. Beat the medium egg in a bowl with a fork, whip gently then add in the soy sauce and salt from group (A) ingredients, mix well to dilute the salt.
4. Add in the dashi/stock and mix them well, to form an egg custard mixture.
5. Sieve the custard mixture into the teacup and fill it 80% full.
6. Place the kitchen paper at the bottom of the pot to prevent shaking when the water is boiling, then place the teacup side by side in the pot.
7. Fill the pot with the hot boiled water until the center height of the tea-cup, cover with a lid which is well wrapped with a layer of a tower to prevent the steam drop into the tea-cup.
8. steam the egg custard over high heat for one minute boiling status, then reduce the heat to simmering, continue steaming for 7 minutes.
9. Lift the lid to check its doneness after 7 minutes steamed, pork with a sharp bamboo skewer at the steamed egg custard. It is cooked if a clear liquid flows out from the poked hole. However, it requires few more minutes of steaming if the flowed liquid is muddy.
10. Turn off the heat and decorate with the Mitsuba knot, remove the Chawan Mushi from the pot and enjoy.
11. If you are going to serve these dishes to your guest or party, you could pre-cook them and let them sit inside the steamer or warmer to keep warm, so you could serve them anytime. Furthermore, in order to prevent the dry of the egg custard, you could apply a layer of glaze, simply mix two tablespoon of water and a teaspoon of corn starch, then bring to a boil to form a thick liquid, season with a drop of soy sauce or a dash of salt. Drizzle the thick liquid on the egg custard to form a liquid protection, that should be able to prevent it from being dry after the long time sitting in the steamer or warmer.

Cooking with a picture.

Mise en place.

Arrange the ingredients to the tea-cup

tight a knot with the stem of Mitsuba

Have all the group A ingredients ready.

Beat the egg and dilute the salt into the egg.

Mix in the Bonito broth

Sieve the custard mixture into the tea cups with 80% full.

Begin to steam.

Check the doneness.