Chawanmushi - Japanese Savory Pudding

 

Chawanmushi – Japanese Savory Egg Pudding

 

Often served as a side dish in Japanese cuisine, Chawanmushi is a light and delicious savory egg pudding that is enjoyed by both adults and children alike!  You can vary the toppings based on your preferences, but the most common ingredients include small pieces of chicken thigh, carrot (often cut in the shape of a flower), shitake mushrooms, gingko nuts, kamaboko (Japanese fish cake – again, this is savory despite its name and is similar in flavor to surimi or fake crab sticks) and mitsuba (Japanese parsley).

 

The Chinese serve a similar dish called “zheng shui dan”, which is also a steamed egg/broth mixture.  They often keep it simple and don’t add toppings aside for a sprinkle of spring onion, and a drizzle of soy sauce.

 

By the way, if you hadn’t realized, this week, Universal Moms decided to focus on eggs as the main ingredient.  As we are currently in the middle of spring, when new life emerges, we thought it would be fun to list some of our favorite recipes where the egg is the key component!  Helena, living in Portugal shared her Pao de Lo, Caroline who is half Chilean, shared a recipe from her latin roots – the Spanish Tortilla, so I thought it would only be fitting if I introduced a dish from one of my countries - Japan.

 

I hope you enjoy the recipe!  

 

SERVES: 2 (250 ml cup / person)

INGREDIENTS: 

Half a medium carrot

3 dried shitake mushrooms 

360 ml dashi broth (store bought powder or sachet)

3 eggs

1/3 tsp salt

2 tsp mirin

2 tsp soy sauce

 

METHOD:

1)    Prepare a small pot of water for semi-boiling the carrots.

2)    Prepare a large pot of water, filling just enough water in the pot so that the cups used, will only be half submerged.  Bring to a boil. 

3)    Prepare dashi broth, either by using powdered dashi or dashi sachets, following the instructions on the packaging.  Set aside to cool.

4)    Soak the dried shitake mushrooms in hot water for 20 minutes.

5)    Wash and peel carrot.  Cut into rounds around 3 mm thick. With a flower cookie cutter, cut a flower out of each round and set aside.

6)    Once water in small pot starts to boil, add the cut “flower” carrots to the pot, and boil for around 3-4 minutes over medium heat.  It should still keep its shape.  Strain and set aside.  

7)    Remove shitake mushrooms from the soaking water, squeeze excess liquid from the mushrooms, being sure not to burn yourself, and cut into thin slices.

8)    Add carrots and mushrooms to the bottom of the chawanmushi cups, (or any high rimmed ceramic cups you may have that can withstand boiling temperatures).

9)    Once Dashi broth is cool, pour into the bowl with eggs, and gently stir together until well combined.  Mix in the mirin, salt and dashi soy sauce (or light soy sauce) to the eggs and strain through a strainer into a pouring vessel - for a smoother mixture.  

10) Pour this mixture into the cups over the toppings, cover each cup with aluminum foil and place in the medium pot filled with boiling water. Turn down the temperature to low, so as to prevent any boiled eater from entering into the Chawanmushi. 

11) Cover the pot and cook for 15 minutes on low or 25-28 minutes if using small pieces of raw chicken thighs.  Just like for the mushrooms and carrots, you would do the same for the other ingredients mentioned above, by placing them at the bottom of the cup and then pouring the egg mixture over them.  

 

Itadakimasu!  En Guete!  Bon Appeit!  Buon Appetito!

 

Gastronomically yours,

 

Pia 💖