Chawanmushi (savory Japanese egg custard)

Ingredients

• 3 pieces whole fresh eggs
• 600 ml dashi (Japanese kombu and bonito broth)
• 100 g boneless skinless chicken thigh
• 4 pieces peeled pink shrimp
• 2 pieces fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 8 slices kamaboko (Japanese fish cake log)
• 8 pieces canned shelled ginkgo nuts
• 2 tsp Japanese soy sauce
• 1 tsp mirin
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 4 sprigs mitsuba leaves (or young scallion greens)

Method

1. Prepare the dashi according to the prepared component and let it cool until warm; hot dashi would cook the eggs prematurely.
2. Cut the chicken into even small dice and marinate them for 10 minutes with a little soy sauce and mirin.
3. Peel the shrimp if necessary while keeping the tail, remove the vein, and thinly slice the shiitake.
4. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them gently with a chopstick or chopsticks, just enough to mix the whites and yolks without incorporating air or making them frothy.
5. Add the warm dashi, the remaining soy sauce, the mirin, and the salt, mix gently, then pass everything through a fine-mesh sieve to eliminate bubbles and strings.
6. Distribute into each teacup (chawan) or small heatproof cup: diced chicken, a shrimp, shiitake, slices of kamaboko, and ginkgo nuts.
7. Pour the egg-dashi mixture into the cups, dividing it evenly, then cover each cup with a lid or plastic wrap.
8. Place the cups in a steamer or a pot with a little hot water coming halfway up the sides; cover the pot, leaving the lid slightly cracked with a chopstick so the steam can escape.
9. Cook over gentle steam, on medium-high heat at first then low heat, until the custard is just set: it should quiver evenly without bubbles, and a skewer inserted in the center should come out clean.
10. Remove the cups from the steam, place a sprig of mitsuba on each surface, and serve immediately, hot or warm, with a spoon.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

245.6 kcal

Protein

25.15 g

Carbohydrate

11.22 g

Fat

9.83 g

Fibre

0.79 g

Calcium

17.78 mg

Iron

0.35 mg

Magnesium

24.04 mg