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Chawanmushi

Chawanmushi

Standard · 50 min · Serves 2 · Japanese

Dietary: dairy-free, nut-free

A silky savory egg custard steamed in a cup, with chicken, fish cake, and mushrooms suspended in a delicate dashi.

Ingredients

For 2 servings

Fillings

  • 80 g chicken breast, cut into 1 cm (½ inch) pieces
  • 0.5 tbsp sake
  • 4 slice kamaboko, thinly sliced
  • 25 g shimeji mushroom, roots trimmed, separated into small clusters
  • 4 ginkgo nut, pre-cooked (optional)
  • 2 sprig mitsuba, cut into short lengths (optional)

Custard

  • 2 egg
  • 250 ml dashi, at room temperature
  • 0.5 tsp mirin
  • 0.5 tsp soy sauce, light (usukuchi) if you have it
  • 0.25 tsp salt

Steps

  1. Stand two heatproof cups in a large lidded pot and add water to come halfway up their sides. Lift the cups out, cover the pot, and bring the water to a boil, then turn off the heat until you're ready to steam.

Fillings

  1. Toss the chicken with the sake in a small bowl and leave it to marinate for 10 minutes while you make the custard.

Custard

  1. Check the dashi is at room temperature or just lukewarm: hot dashi starts cooking the eggs.
  2. Beat the eggs with chopsticks until the whites and yolks are fully combined, without whipping in air. Stir in the dashi, mirin, soy sauce and salt.
  3. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a jug. Don't skip it: straining catches the stringy bits of white that would otherwise set as lumps in the custard.

Steaming

  1. Divide the chicken between the cups, add the shimeji and ginkgo nuts, and lay the kamaboko on top. Pour in the custard until each cup is about 80% full, then skim or pop any bubbles on the surface with a spoon, since they set as pits.
  2. Bring the water back to a boil, then turn it to the lowest heat, keeping it at 80 to 90°C (176 to 194°F), barely trembling. Lower in the cups, cover each with its lid or a square of foil, and set the pot lid slightly ajar.
  3. Steam for about 20 minutes; larger or thicker cups can take a few minutes more. Don't let the water boil, or the custard turns spongy and pitted instead of silky.
  4. Test by pushing a skewer into the center: if the liquid that rises is clear, not cloudy, and the custard wobbles as one piece when tilted, it's done. If not, steam for 2 to 3 minutes more and test again.
  5. Lift the cups out carefully, top with the mitsuba, and serve hot or warm with a small spoon. Leftovers keep in their cups in the fridge for up to 2 days; re-steam for about 2 minutes.

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