Chinese Style Steamed Egg
Smooth and silky-textured savory egg custard, goes well with steamed white rice and other Asian side dishes.
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Ingredients:
| large eggs | 3 | |
| water (boiled and cooled down, but still slightly WARM) | 300 ml | |
| white pepper powder | ¹⁄8 tsp | |
| garlic powder | ¹⁄8 tsp | |
| onion powder | ¹⁄8 tsp | |
| salt ( to taste) | ¹⁄3- ½ tsp | |
| sugar | ½ tsp | |
| corn flour (cornstarch) | ¼ tsp | |
| oil (rice bran / sunflower etc) | 3 Tbsp | |
| garlic, finely chopped | 2 Tbsp | |
| spring onion greens, finely chopped | 2- 3 Tbsp |
Method:
- Break the eggs into a medium bowl. Beat lightly.
- Pour in the ‘warm’ water gradually, while continuing to beat.
- Add the seasoning ingredients (white pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, sugar, corn flour). Beat again to ensure the ingredients are mixed well.
- Strain the egg mixture into a wider, shallow bowl (for steaming). This is to help remove any lumps but also removes any air bubbles that will ruin the smooth ‘finish’ of the steamed egg.
- Cover the dish tightly with saran wrap/cling film.
- Bring water to a boil in a wide saucepan (with a lid). Place a steaming rack over the water.
- Gently lower the dish onto the steaming rack. Using a plate lifter helps a lot.
- Cover the steamer-saucepan with the lid and reduce heat to low-medium heat.
- Check after 10 minutes by tilting the bowl. The egg custard should be ‘just’ set and no longer jiggly or runny. If not set, continue up to 20 minutes, till the custard sets. Do not OVER steam as you will lose the delicate smoothness.
- While the egg is being steamed, heat the oil in a small pan and sauté the garlic till golden brown. Remove the pan from heat and set aside the fried garlic along with the oil.
- Once the egg is just set – remove the bowl/dish from the steamer using the plate lifter.
- Remove the saran wrap/cling film. Pour the fried garlic along with its oil over the center of the steamed egg. Pour the light soy sauce over the surface as well. This is for additional seasoning(saltiness).
- Garnish with the chopped spring onion greens.
- Serve hot with white rice and other Asian stir fry/dishes.
Chinese Style Steamed Egg
Notes:
- You can substitute the garlic and onion powders with the juice of garlic and onion. (Press a few cloves of garlic or shallots/onion, that have been crushed against a wine wire sieve – to get the juice. Do not use chopped garlic and onion as the custard needs to retain a silky smooth texture.
- Make sure the garlic is fried to a golden color and does not turn dark. This would make the garlic crunchy in texture and bitter to taste.
- If you don’t like the fried garlic over the custard, you could also strain the oil and pour this garlic-oil over the custard instead. We want in lightly golden and slightly crispy.
- You can substitute half the quantity ( or all) of water with chicken/vegetable stock ( according to how concentrated the stock is). This will provide a different flavor. Make sure the stock is strained before using so that the texture is not affected. In the same way, unsweetened soy milk may also be used to add another layer of flavor.
- Steaming at higher heat will ruin the smoothness of the top of the egg custard.
- If you don’t have saran wrap, you can also use aluminum foil but you will need to lift the foil to see if the custard has set. Make sure the foil does not touch the egg surface.
- The dish/bowl used for steaming will affect the timing. Metal bowls will take less time than ceramic bowls. I prefer the ceramic bowl, for serving purposes.
Key Ingredients: Egg, Water, Salt, Seasoning powders, Oil, Garlic, Spring Onion.
Let us know if you tried it – Chinese Style Steamed Egg.
