Chawanmushi – Japanese steamed egg custard with Shrimp

I am sure you must be wondering the origins of this recipe. Yes, it’s a Japanese dish. I fell in love with this unique tasting savoury egg custard at a traditional Japanese restaurant in the bustling Shibuya district of Tokyo. At first sight it looks like a traditional custard and we had ordered it looking at the picture on the menu card. I must admit, the original dish in Japan was a tad bland for my palate, but the concept and was so interesting that I had to get the recipe. How I managed to do that is a different story. I experimented with fried garlic, red chili flakes and garlic-pepper Tobasco sauce to add more flavour to the mouthfeel. If you are comfortable with seafood, I would recommend throwing in some shrimps and slices of sausage. It provides more character and taste to the Chawanmushi. This is one dish which needs to be tailored to the Indian Palate and therefore I would encourage you to experiment with other ingredients. So, for vegetarians you can use more mushrooms and carrots and add some veggies. All right, happy experimenting and fooding around with this unique dish.

Chawanmushi – Japanese steamed egg custard with Shrimp

★★★★★ 5 from 104 reviews

• Author: subrata
• Prep Time: 10min
• Cook Time: 15min
• Total Time: 25min
• Yield: 4 1x

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Description

A custard with a difference

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 3 large Eggs
• 1 1/2 cups Dashi or Chicken Stock
• 1 Tsp Mirin or cooking Rice Wine
• 1 Tsp light Soya Sauce
• 9 – 10 Shrimps, peeled and deveined
• 2–3 fresh Shitake Mushrooms, sliced (can use white button mushrooms, if not available)
• A few Carrot slices
• A couple of stalks of Cilantro/Coriander leaf
• Salt to taste

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Instructions

1. Soak the shrimps in 1 Tbsp rice wine for 5 mins. Drain and set aside.
2. Whisk together eggs, dashi, mirin and soya sauce. Strain the mixture and remove the bubbles.
3. Place the shrimps in the ramekins. Pour in egg mixture and top off with mushroom, carrot, cilantro.
4. Cover with foil. Place the ramekins on trivet with water and steam in a pressure cooker for 10 -12 mins.
5. Take off and serve hot.

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Notes

Note : I usually add my own touch to this by sprinkling some finely roasted garlic and some chilli flakes. It helps in giving more flavour to my Indian palate. I at times also use boneless chicken (cut into bite size) or even chicken sausages if I run out of shrimps. Try using the garlic- pepper Tobasco Sauce in the beaten egg mix. That too will bring about a flavour burst to the Chawanmushi

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 4