Chawanmushi (Japanese Savoury Egg Custard)

Chawanmushi is a traditional hot Japanese appetizer made from steamed savoury egg custard and is filled with delicious fillings of prawns, kamaboko (fish cake), shiitake mushrooms and chicken. “Chawan” means tea cup or rice bowl and “mushi” means steamed in Japanese and it is indeed steamed food in a cup. Chawanmushi’s flavour comes mainly from dashi, mirin and soy sauce. If cooked right, the texture is soft, silky and smooth.

INGREDIENTS

3 eggs
2 cups dashi
½ tsp salt
2 tsp soy sauce
2-4 shrimp (sliced into 2 pieces each)
½ chicken thigh (cut into bite size pieces)
1-2 shiitake mushroom (sliced)
1 tsp sake
1 tsp mirin
8 slices kamaboko (fish cake) (cut into thin slices)
Mitsuba leaves (Japanese parsley) or green onion (chopped)

Toppings

2 tbsp ikura (salmon roe)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Marinate chicken and shrimps. Mix chicken pieces with ½ tsp soy sauce and ½ tsp sake in a bowl. In another bowl, mix shrimp and ½ tsp soy sauce and ½ tsp sake. Let them marinade for a couple of minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix eggs, mirin, salt, 1 tsp soy sauce and dashi together. Be careful not to aerate the eggs while whisking as the bubbles will present silkiness. Strain the egg mixture through a sieve. Pop any bubbles or blow on the surface to pop the bubbles.
3. Place ¼ amount of chicken, shrimp, shiitake mushrooms and 2 slices of kamaboko in each of the 4 small cups (such as ramekins), then pour egg mixture over them to fill ¾ of a cup. Cover with aluminum foil and put the covered cups into a steamer.
4. Steam at low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer to see if it’s done. If clear broth comes out when poked, take the cups out from the steamer.
5. Sprinkle Mitsuba leaves and cover again for 2-3 minutes. Top with ikura and serve immediately.