chawanmushi

When Da and I hosted a Valentine's Day dinner at our home this year, the theme of the dinner was Japanese. As such, I decided to make chawanmushi for the dinner.

I searched the internet for chawanmushi recipes. However, I had difficulty selecting a recipe that suited me because some of the recipes contain ingredients that are not easily available at our local supermarket or are too complicated in steps. When I bake or cook, it is important to me that the baking or cooking process is simple. I work long hours and I only have the weekend to rest and to indulge in one of my favourite hobbies - cooking / baking.

In the end, I decided to improvise and create my own recipe. I made the chawanmushi for the Valentine's Day dinner and I was relieved that it turned out fine. The only regret is that Da and I were not able to find any chawanmushi cups when we browsed the shops on the night before Valentine's Day. As such, I had to make do with coffee cups. We shall have to extend our search for chawanmushi cups to shops in other locations.

In the meantime and as requested by SY, here is the recipe for my version of chawanmushi. I used miso soup for the stock. If you do not have miso soup on hand, please see my tips at the end of this post for alternatives.

This recipe serves four and you can vary the recipe accordingly if you are making fewer or more cups of chawanmushi.

Ingredients

Part A:

50g mushrooms (I used a mixture of dried mushrooms and a variety of fresh mushrooms) (sliced)

80g chicken fillet (sliced)

4 pieces of crab stick (sliced)

100 ml miso soup

dash of pepper

8 ginko nuts

Part B:

4 eggs

400ml miso soup

dash of pepper

Method

1. Scald the mushrooms, chicken and crab stick in 100ml of boiling miso soup. Sprinkle a dash of pepper and mix well.

2. Strain the ingredients and distribute them among the chawanmushi cups. Add 2 ginko nuts to each chawanmushi cup. Set aside.

3. Using a fork, lightly beat the eggs and mix with 400ml miso soup and a dash of pepper. Strain the mixture and pour the mixture into the chawanmushi cups. Skim off any bubbles that appear on top of the mixture.

4. Boil some water in a steamer. When the water has boiled, cover the chawanmushi cups with cling wrap and place the cups in the steamer. Steam for 20 minutes or until the chawanmushi has set.

Tips

If you do not have miso soup on hand:-

(1) For Part A, you can marinate the mushrooms, chicken and crab stick with some salt before lightly scalding them in boiling water.

(2) For Part B, you can substitute the miso soup with 400ml water, 1 tbsp concentrated meat stock (eg. chicken stock), 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp light soya sauce and a pinch of salt.