Egg custard is a very common Chinese food. I remember having egg custard lot when I was younger. My mom would make this when I was a toddler because it was easy to digest, relatively easy to make and also great when I was sick. This steamed egg custard is similar to the Japanese Chawanmushi and to Korean Gyeranjjim.
From my childhood memory, egg custard was something my mom would always cook when I’m sick. Egg custard is also a go-to food for Chinese moms with young children. The reason is that egg custard can be easily digested, mild in flavour and doesn’t require a lot of chewing. my mom said that she struggled to get the right texture for the egg custard. While her egg custard flavour is still good, there was a lot of air bubbles within the egg custard so it doesn’t lend to a smooth texture. However this recipe I’m sharing will give you a smooth and delicious egg custard every time. I’ve made it several times and it has been amazing every time.
Steamed Egg Custard ingredients
This egg custard only requires 2 main ingredients, egg and warm water. Now the water can be substituted with stock of any kind. In addition, you can add some vegetables into the egg custard but it might affect the texture as it would add air bubbles into the custard. The egg custard can be quite bland on its own, perfect with younger kids or elderly, but you can add a sauce onto it. My favourite is just a scallion and soy sauce. This sauce is something my mom made when she made the egg custard.
How to make it
There are some key points that you need to do in order to get the steamed egg custard silky smooth:
- Use warm water. Water needs to be added to the egg, if you don’t add any water, you will end up with a dry and leathery egg custard. Now the warm water helps to slightly cook the egg but won’t overcook it. Using hot water will cook the egg too quickly, causing the texture to quite leathery. Adding cold water won’t allow the egg to mix in properly leaving large air bubbles.
- Ratio of egg to water mixture. I kept the mixture of egg to water to be 1:1.25, meaning if I have 100 ml of egg, I would add 125 ml of warm water. At minimum you should do 1:1 ratio for egg: water. If you prefer a more softer texture that is more watery, add a bit more water. I prefer mine to be solid but smooth.
- Strain the egg water mixture. When you mix the egg and water together, you will get a lot of air incorporated into the mixture and also some separation (mainly it’s the egg whites). You need to strain so that you don’t get these air bubbles and it also strain out any impurities.
- Use a saran wrap/cling film to cover the bowl and poke holes to allow steam to escape. These will help to prevent the surface from becoming uneven.
I found that if I followed these steps, you are guaranteed to get a silky smooth egg custard. I promise the flavour and texture is pretty addicting.
Pro-tip:
- Use warm water
- Ratio for silky smooth egg custard, 1:1.25 for egg to water respectively
- Strain the egg mixture
- Use a cling film/saran wrap over the egg mixture and poke holes on top.
Steamed Egg Custard
Equipment
- steamer
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 125 ml warm water/stock
- ¼ tsp salt optional
Scallion soy sauce
- ½ scallion (green parts)
- 1½ tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Heat up water or stock to be 40-50℃. Or you can boil it and then leave it to cool. If the liquid feels warm on the hand but not hot, that's the best for egg custard
- Beat the eggs into a measuring cup, mine came up to be 100ml
- Pour in about 125 ml of water (can use a measuring cup)
- Stir to mix the water/stock and egg and add salt if needed. If adding a sauce, you might not need salt.
- Use a small strainer and strain out the egg mixture into a bowl. You might have some leftovers in the strainer, just leave it out.
- use a cling film/saran wrap and wrap the bowl. Poke some holes on to the top
- Fill a steamer with water and steam on high for 10-12 minutes (optional: boil the water beforehand and decrease cooking time.) If you like it slightly less firm, do about 7 minutes.
- Make the scallion soy sauce mixture when waiting for the egg custard.
Scallion soy sauce mixture
- Cut up some scallions and place into a small pot, add in soy sauce and water. Heat it up. Once it's bubbling, it's done.
- After 10-12 minutes, use a knife to cut open the film to check on egg custard. It should be firm when you shake the bowl.
- Take the bowl out of the steamer (use oven gloves) and serve as it is or with the scallion soy sauce. The egg custard should be silky smooth with no lumps when eaten.