Authentic Chawanmushi (Japanese Steamed Egg Custard)
Chawanmushi is a delicate dish made with Japanese fish cake, shrimp and shiitake mushrooms steamed in a silky savory egg custard. Wow your guests with this beautiful homemade chawanmushi!
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 15 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 2 egg (approx 60ml/2 floz per egg)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 8 slices kamaboko fish cake (kamaboko)
- 2-3 fresh shiitake mushroom (thinly sliced)
- 100 g shrimp (1 whole for each serving, the rest cut into halves or thirds)
- 500 ml dashi stock (three times the total egg volume + extra for cooking the toppings)
- ½ tsp sake
- 1 tsp mirin
- Japanese wild parsley (mitsuba) ((mistuba) optional garnish)
Instructions
- 1
Start heating a pot of water ready for steaming. For each serving, set aside 1 whole shrimp, a slice of shiitake mushroom and a slice of kamaboko and place them in a small heatproof bowl. Pour dashi (or water) into the bowl until the ingredients are submerged. Cover with foil and place it in the steaming basket.
- 2
Cut the rest of the ingredients in halves or quarters and distribute them evenly between the chawanmushi containers.
- 3
Crack the eggs into a measuring cup and make a note of the liquid volume. Lightly mix to break up the yolk.
- 4
Add salt, sake, mirin, and top up with dashi until the total volume is 4 times the original volume of the egg. (Example: 100ml egg requires 300ml dashi/condiments to make 400ml in total)
- 5
Place a fine mesh sieve over a mixing bowl and pour the egg mixture through. You might need to use a spatula to help work through any lumps.
- 6
Transfer the mixture back into a jug for easy pouring and divide it evenly between the chawanmushi containers.
- 7
If the cups have lids, place the lids on, if not, cover each one with foil. Place them inside a steaming basket together with the bowl of toppings from earlier.
- 8
Once the pot of water is boiling, place the steaming basket on top with the lid on and steam the chawanmushi for 3 minutes with a high heat. After 3 minutes, lower to simmer and continue to steam for 10 mins (13 minutes in total).
- 9
After the time is up, check the chawanmushi is set by removing the foil of one cup and gently tilting it. (Use an oven mitt to protect your hands.) If it's not set, steam them for another 1-2 minutes and keep checking the progress until the chawanmushi has set.
- 10
Garnish with the dashi soaked toppings and a leaf of mitsuba (Japanese parsley).
- 11
Enjoy hot or cold!