Steamed Eggs (Chinese Savoury Custard)

Another very homely recipe to chase away the blues.

It's really cheap and simple and has hardly any ingredients at all, and all the kids (and adults) love it. It's the Chinese household equivalent of the more known Japanese chawanmushi, the Japanese version being steamed in a pretty little cup, with all sorts of hidden goodies. The version I grew up with though, is plain and unadorned and done in a shallow steam-proof dish. The most basic version is called 蒸水蛋 i.e. "steamed water eggs", because it is literally just steaming a water-egg mixture, but using stock (my mum insists!) makes it 10x better.

The test of a good steamed egg lies in the texture. It will be soft and silky with a smooth surface, kind of like a savoury set custard. Done wrong, it will be rubbery with a a pock-marked surface-- like the ones I used to do until I went to research and properly grilled my mum.

I love this old-school fail-proof way of measuring liquid:egg ratio

Steamed Eggs

serves 1-2

Ingredients

2 free-range pastured eggs

6 eggshell-halves of cooled boiled water/ homemade stock (hence, size of eggs don't matter!)

white pepper + 1 tsp Shaoxing wine (opt, but again, my mum insists!)

To serve

traditionally brewed and fermented soy sauce

1 tbsp groundnut oil (or lard from happy pigs) + drizzle of toasted sesame oil

chopped spring onions (opt, as kids we'd pick them out)

Method

1. Beat eggs well with the water/stock. Strain the mixture through a sieve to get rid of the bubbles, into a shallow (mine was about 1/2 inch deep) steam-proof dish.

2. Prepare steamer, or for a makeshift one, just set a metal rack over a pot of boiling water, making sure the metal rack is higher than the water level. Place the dish on the rack, covered with a plate or sealed with foil (my mum's style).

3. Turn to low heat, and steam for about 15 min or till set. If you're not sure, shaking the dish a little, it should be jiggly but firm. Uncover halfway first, wait for steam to escape, then fully uncover.
4. To serve, sprinkle spring onions over. Heat the oils till smoking hot. Pour over, and then dizzle the soy sauce over (adjust according to taste, you may need less if you've seasoned it with a flavourful stock). 

The oils scalds the raw spring onions to release its fragrance, and also helps the soy sauce to 'glide' smoothly over. It's what gives it the extra special something, though you could skip it if you want to go the healthy zen and Japanese route.

My mum, being my mum, will also add minced pork or fish seasoned with a bit of soy sauce and pepper, and she will use her best stock (leftover, made from simmering chicken bones and dried scallops). The one I have here is a lot less deluxe. But it's, oh gosh, so familiar and good. The eggs are just set with a delicate custardy texture, and is seasoned simply by the river of light soy sauce running through. Each spoonful of steamed egg is like a savoury scoop of home.

I think I even saw a little bit of sun peeking through the clouds just now (: