How To Make Chinese Steamed Egg
Apr 6th, 2008 by admin
Here’s a recipe from my mother for a simple Cantonese dish that transports me right back to my childhood. It was one of three or four dishes served at dinner, along with steamed white rice. My mother makes different versions of it, sometimes using dried scallops, sometimes dried shrimp, but whatever ingredients she uses, the basic steamed egg is the same – light, healthy and above all, delicious!
It should resemble a delicate, silky smooth panna cotta in texture. It takes a lot of practice to make this properly, and I’ve seen my mother occasionally get it wrong even after making it for so many years. Apologies for the lack of photos, but the top should look very smooth and ‘crater’-free. As you start eating it, the inside should also be smooth and neither over-cooked nor under-cooked.
Steamed Egg without Meat: (it’s hard to say how many people this will serve, as it’s supposed to be one of three or four shared dishes, eaten with steamed rice)
- 2 medium-size eggs
- ½ tsp salt
- a little ground white pepper
- 2 slices ginger
- 1 spring onion, chopped
- 260-280ml water (if you use more water, the end result will be softer; if you use less water, the egg will end up being a little more solid)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
What to do next:
Beat eggs, then add along with salt, pepper, ginger, spring onion and water into shallow dish (about 2 inches deep would be best, and my mother always uses a metal dish). Add water to base of wok or pan, wait until it reaches boiling point, place metal rack on base of wok or pan and put egg dish on top. Cover with lid and steam for about 10 minutes. Heat tablespoon of vegetable oil in the wok and pour with soy sauce over egg. Serve immediately.
Steamed Egg with Meat:
Hand mince about 90g pork or chicken, and marinade with a little salt, sugar, ground white pepper, soy sauce, cornstarch and a few drops of white vinegar. After 10 minutes, add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and mix (oil is always the last ingredient for marinading meat, because oil prevents the other ingredients from being absorbed).
Add meat to shallow dish and steam (same method as above) for about 10 minutes. Add egg mixture to dish, and steam for another 5 minutes. It takes less time to cook, because the meat and the dish are already very hot. Pour hot oil and soy sauce over egg, as above.
Enjoy!
See my recent post on my favourite Cantonese home-cooked meals for more of my mother’s recipes.
Click for all Chinese recipes on World Foodie Guide
Helen,
What size (diameter) dish do you cook this in? Then people serve themselves from the dish on the table? (as part of a meal)
It sounds a lot like chawan-mushi because it’s a custard, though the Japanese dish is cooked in small individual dishes. Also no oil or shoya poured over it. But might they be “related?”
I’ve been fascinated with chawan-mushi for a long time—love custard, but not sweets! But oddly, I’ve only made it one time during the whole year I’ve been doing my “Japanese cooking project!”
The first time I made chawan-mushi, long ago, I used small dishes set into a bamboo steamer over a wok with water. Since then, I usually steam food in bamboo steamers over a straight-sided pot. Custards can be tricky to judge when they are done enough and not over-cooked. I’ve lost a recipe that cooked in a bain marie in the oven. That one seemed to turn out quite reliably.
Hi Tess,
My mother uses an 8 inch stainless steel dish, about 2, maximum 3, inches deep. And yes, then it’s served as one of several dishes in a shared meal – it’s really rare not to share at a Chinese dinner.
I’ve had chawan-mushi before, but it’s served in small dishes as individual portions, as you point out. There’s possibly some connection there!
My mother is coming over in a few weeks’ time, so I’ll get her to make this so that I can take some photos and add it to the post…
Helen Yuet Ling
Hi Helen Yuet Ling,
I make steamed eggs with or without minced pork for my children – it’s a staple for Chinese children. I normally use 3 eggs and the amount of water I eyeball. I don’t even think about measuring it now, it comes with practice.
I marinade the meat before hand with salt, sugar and a little sesame oil. I beat the eggs and water and meat together in the dish (I use a ceramic dish) using chopsticks. For children, I don’t add any other ingredients, except a couple of dashes of light soy sauce on top when the dish is ready and taken out of the wok.
One tip, make sure you keep the lid on the wok until the dish is cooked – like a souffle it ruins the dish if you remove the lid too early.
It’s one of those simple, classic dishes (a kind of comfort food) that seems easy enough, but takes time to master. But well worth it, particularly if you have children and want to feed them something filling and healthy.
Susan S. Cheung
Thanks for the added tips Susan! I’ve never made it before, but I do love to eat it. Getting hungry just thinking about it. Just a few more weeks before my mother arrives to make it for me!
Helen Yuet Ling
This is one of my favourite dishes! My dad often makes it, with or without pork, sometimes with a salted duck egg in the middle, with small dried shrimps, or the larger dried prawns. Once he experimented using soya milk instead of water… can’t say that worked out too well (sorry Daddy!). It’s a quick dish I often find myself making. My dad usually makes it in a shallow claypot set in simmering water… the trick is to not let the water get too hot or bubbles will form and an ugly and wrinkled bulbous surface, too :S
ps I just noticed you changed your header graphic – love it!
I like the idea of steamed egg with a salted duck egg! I can’t remember the last time I had salted duck egg, but the taste is so distinctive. As I won’t have the dish that my mum uses to make it, she’ll have to improvise when she gets here. We’ll see if the result is the same!
I’m going to try and change my header more, I was getting a bit bored staring at the same one every day…
I also, like your mom, use a stainless steel bowl most of the time! But I’ve also used a really cheap metallic nabe, then my boyfriend got me a chawan, but I found it takes far longer to cook the egg (because it’s so deep, instead of wide and shallow like the vessels we Chinese use!). I’m guessing you can use any kind of bowl, but it’s just that the metal ones are more conductive to a quicker-cooking custard … always an advantage!
Good point. It’s not the most attractive dish in the world (the one my mother uses), but it does the job quickly and effectively! Getting very hungry thinking about it…
Looking forward to our meal too!
My mom used to put a couple of salted eggs into the steamed egg. It was one of my childhood favourites too. My mom makes it in a Pyrex casserole. She also mentioned that you should avoid mixing the egg too much. Bubbles on the surface will make the top kinda tough and not smooth. Some people put the egg mixture through a sifter.
Hi souvenir kattunge
Hmmm, I really must get some salted eggs and get my mum to add them when she makes steamed egg for me. Thanks for the tips by the way! Very useful to know…
Helen Yuet Ling
Hi Helen
I am so curious about this recipe, that I’ve bookmarked it for future reference. I’ve tried and failed on 3 accounts in making the basic steamed egg without any meat; presenting with a massive crater at dinner to my dad. Had my mum forgot to buy the eggs, I would have made and given feedback about your recipe within this post!
I find it interesting how the recipe uses the hot oil to ‘finish’ off the dish, as I’ve only seen my mum do this with her steamed fish dishes!
One more interesting thing I found is that, using the small versions of dried scallops (about 1-2cm diameter ones) makes the dish so much more yummy. Being not a massive fan of dried scallops, because I found them too stringy and sticking to my teeth, the mini versions of them are much more to my taste!
Dana
Hi Dana
It would be great to have your feedback in the future! As you can see from the above comments, there are many ways to make this seemingly simple dish. Of course, I’ve only eaten it – I’ve never attempted to make it! When my mum uses dried scallops, she shreds the large ones into tiny pieces, or uses the broken bits that you can buy more cheaply. Large whole ones are saved for special occasions!
Looking forward to hearing from you…
Helen Yuet Ling
I used to live next to a Chinese guy in the student house. He would add some dried shrimp and a few drops of sesame oil (instead of vegetable oil). Tastes great.
Andrey – hello and thank you for the tip. My mum uses dried shrimp but not sesame oil. However, I’ve heard about the sesame oil from a few others today, and I have some, so I’ll have another go at the weekend. I’m afraid today’s attempt at cooking this failed miserably and I ended up with an omelette! It was tasty but not what I was after…
Helen Yuet Ling
I am ashamed to say I forgot about this dish as I’ve not eaten it for going on 30 years ! For some reason, my Mum stopped making it as I got older. I remember my Mum putting in bits of ham and sometimes left over fried dough stick. It certainly brings back warm memories of family meals when I was small.
Sung – I’m looking forward to trying again this weekend. Whenever my mum cooks (which is rare now as we live in different countries), she always makes this. I can’t ever forget the silky texture. Let me know if you do try making this. Any tips appreciated!
Helen Yuet Ling
My family calls this steamed egg dish ” the ice skating rink”. The surface is so smooth. I will explain in as much detail as possible as the dish may appear simple but it takes a lot of care to achieve perfection. This is how I cook this dish.
Crack 2 to 3 eggs into a bowl. To each egg (no matter the size of the egg), add 3 half egg shells of room temperature water. The volume of water to egg is one and a half times. Add a pinch of salt. The salt helps to coagulate the egg when steamed. Beat the egg mixture, taking care not to overbeat to prevent a lot of bubbles forming. I use a Corningware lipped dish 8 and a half inches in diameter.(If you are using more eggs, use a larger dish.) Pour the beaten egg mixture into the dish.
Place a trivet into a wok /pot and filled with water just up to the top of the trivate. Cover the wok and boil the water on high heat. Place the egg dish into a wok /pot . Clean and dry the cover of the wok which by now has condensation on it. Cover the wok again. Wait for the steam to come up again and with a VERY QUICK flip of the hand, remove the cover. Take care that the condensed water does not drip back onto the steaming egg. Wipe away the condensation again. This removal of the cover quickly reduces the heat and hence excess steam. Cover the wok again. Lower the heat to medium and steam the egg for about 4 more minutes. The result is a smooth “Ice skating rink”.
You may then garnish with chopped spring onions and/or Chinese parsley. I usually leave it plain.
It is very important to control the heat and to prevent the condensation from falling back onto the egg mixture.
Hope you will enjoy.
Ivana – thanks!
Helen Yuet Ling
My Grandfather had a Chinese Restaurant near the Music Center in Los Angeles, CA
We often had the Chinese steamed egg custard with our meals.
Instead of the dried shrimp try fresh shrimp:
My Grandmother used to dice fresh peeled shrimp marinated in sesame seed oil, and soy sauce. When the Chinese steamed egg custard was almost ready, she sprinkled the shrimp on top and continued to steamed the Chinese steamed egg custard for a few more minutes until it turned pink and was just cooked. Sprinkle fresh chopped green scallion on top just before serving.
If you add minced pork meat, marinate it in a little sesame seed oil, oyster sauce and soy sauce. Put it on top of the egg mixture to float the pork meat. Steam the Chinese steamed egg custard until the pork and Egg custard is coagulated throughout. Serve with minced green scallions on top.
Enjoy,
Nancy S.
Nancy S. – thanks for the tips! I would never have thought of using fresh shrimp instead. My mother’s coming to London for a visit next month, so I’m going to make her cook this for me and photograph it for posterity!
Helen Yuet Ling