Chinese Steamed Egg
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Whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner, eggs are a great choice for a healthy meal! The same goes for Chinese culture. Chinese Steamed Egg makes a healthy breakfast or side dish at lunch or dinner. It’s smooth and soft and has a delicate flavour.
Steaming Eggs
In western culture, it’s normal to fry, boil and poach eggs but we want to introduce yet another way to make eggs! Steamed Egg, also known as egg custard, is a classic recipe in Chinese cuisine. By steaming it, the texture of the egg stays smooth and silky and the surface looks gloss-like.
Other Types of Steamed Egg
There is a lot of overlap in the different Asian cuisines. Sometimes they are inspired by each other but the similarity is often unintentional. This isn’t very surprising since the availability of ingredients and flavours are comparable in Asia. Japan, Korea and other countries will often have their own versions of Chinese recipes.
In Japan, the steamed egg is served in cup-sized portions and is silk smooth. Toppings like fish roe, crab and mushrooms are popular choices. The Korean version of this recipe is made in a large clay bowl and will often include diced carrots and green onion.
About This Recipe
The toppings in this recipe are completely optional! If you want to keep things simple, just plain egg works well. It’s just as delicious!
You can do the exact opposite as well and add more toppings if you’d like. The best part of making food at home is being able to customize it exactly to your liking.
Feel free to experiment with other toppings as well. We use shiitake mushrooms, carrots and green onion in this recipe. You can try adding diced chicken breast, minced pork shrimp or clams too.
If you love eggs and want to try more egg recipes, check out our classic Tomato Egg recipe or Egg Drop Soup. Now let’s start this recipe!
Chinese Steamed Egg Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups chicken stock
- ½ tsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp salt
- a drizzle of sesame oil
Toppings (Optional):
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms
- ½ medium carrot
- 1 stalk green onion
Instructions
- Begin by re-hydrating your shiitake mushrooms by soaking them in hot water.
- Peel and then dice your carrot. Chop the green onion into thin slices as well.
- Crack your eggs into a bowl and add in the chicken stock, soy sauce and salt. Whisk everything together until well-combined.
- To make it silky smooth, pour the egg mixture through a fine-mesh strainer. You can skip this step if you’d like, but the texture of the egg won’t be as smooth.
- Get your steamer ready by filling it with water. Turn the heat to medium-high and let the water bowl. If you do not have a steamer, a pot will work too. Just use a shallow dish or something else to prop up the dish with eggs out of the water.
- Pour your egg mixture into a shallow bowl. You want the bowl to be wider than it is tall.
- Add your toppings. Note that they may sink to the bottom. If you’d them to stay on the surface, steam the egg for 5 minutes before adding them. You may want to pre-cook some of the toppings if this is the case.
- Once the water in your steamer is boiling, turn the heat to medium-low and put your dish with the egg in. Cover and steam for 10 to 12 minutes, leaving the lid slightly open to let the steam escape a little. If the steamed egg doesn’t look fully set, continue to steam for another 2-3 minutes.
- After the steamed egg is fully cooked, carefully remove the bowls from the steamer and let them rest for 5 minutes to cool down.
- Drizzle some sesame oil on top and serve while still warm. Enjoy!
