Egga-licious Down Home Cooking (Steamed Egg with Shiitake Mushrooms)
There are dishes that with the first bite I am instantly transported back to the dinner table of my childhood. My dad clanging pots and pans, putting the finishing touches on our meal. Me or my brother setting the table and my mom cleaning up in my dad’s “kitchen wake” (big job, trust me). A typical meal would be corn soup, stir-fried greens with oyster sauce and ginger, soy sauce chicken from our favorite Chinese deli, and a steamed dish. The steamed dish might be minced pork patty with salted duck eggs or steamed eggs with clams. These are the dishes of my childhood, my soul food.
Asian Soul Food
So, this past month, Food 52 featured Fuscia Dunlop’s Every Grain of Rice in their cookbook club. Listed is a recipe for steamed eggs. Bam, I’m 10 years old again watching my dad cook, hoping he will give me a morsel to “taste-test”. I flipped to the page with the recipe and hmmm, honestly, her egg dish didn’t look that great. (In her defense I tried a couple of the other recipes in the book and they are delicious). It looked a bit overcooked and bubbly on the top. My dad’s steamed eggs were silky smooth and soft, kind of like silken tofu or Japanese Chawan Mushi. Both are savory custards with tidbits of shrimp, bbq pork, or clams, indescribably delicious.
Guess what, I have never made this simple, homey, delightful dish and I’m not sure why. I love it. My kids love it. My niece Marisa REALLY loves it. Hello, what was I waiting for? I reached out to my bro for tips on how to make dad’s steamed eggs, he’s smart, he makes it all the time.
There is some wiggle room to the ratio of egg to liquid in this dish. Four eggs to one and a quarter to one-half cups of water. I replaced the water with low sodium chicken stock to amp up the flavor. The TRICK to mind-boggling silky, smooth custard is to steam the eggs over very low heat. Low and slow so you don’t get bubbles or overcooked eggs.
Add-Ins
Following Fuscia’s recipe, I added shiitake mushrooms and opted for diced Chinese sausage (lop cheung) instead of ground pork. The mushrooms add a nice earthiness and the sweet & salty sausage provides both flavor and texture. My dad liked dried shrimp or bbq pork. Ham or ground chicken or pork would work well. I mixed the ‘shrooms and sausage into the egg mixture before pouring it into the bowl. Next time I will scatter them on the bottom of the steaming bowl and pour the eggs over so they don’t float to the top as much. But really, NBD it will still be delicious.
Remember LOW AND SLOW, the key to a silky, smooth, damn that’s delish, egg custard. WORD.
The dish is done when the center is just set and does not jiggle too much. Garnish with green onions (mandatory) and cilantro (optional). Heat the peanut or vegetable oil until you see wisps of smoke, then immediately pour it over the green onions. This brings out the flavor of the aromatics and gives the eggs a nice sheen. Drizzle with soy sauce and/or oyster sauce on top. Ready, set, EAT.
Get out the bowls of rice and then follow my kids’ lead. Stir the eggs into your rice so it’s all smooshed together and goopy, grab a spoon and start shoveling.
Microwave Magic
Now you can make steamed eggs in the microwave! I recently bought Cook Anyday microwave cookware and whaddya know, the microwave works well for dishes that are steamed!!!
Put your ingredients all in one bowl, zap it, bring it to the table, off chance you don’t eat it all….toss the bowl in the fridge. Truly one-bowl cooking! I cooked at 300 watts or 50% power (I have a teeny 600w microwave) for 8 minutes, or until the custard is barely set in the middle, and jiggles gently if shaken. If it’s too runny, add time at 50% power in 30-second increments. Let rest with the lid on for 1-2 minutes to let the egg gently finish steaming.
Chinese Steamed Eggs with Shiitake Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 4 eggs whisked
- 1.5 cups warm water substitute all or part with chicken stock. Liquid should be lukewarm
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms soften in warm water and diced
- 1 lop cheung (Chinese sausage) diced, substitutions include ham, little clams, fresh or dried shrimp
- 2 tsp rice wine
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 pinch of each white pepper and sugar
Optional (for garnish)
- 2 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil
- 1 green onion finely chopped
- cilantro for garnish
- 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
- 2 drops toasted sesame oil optional
- 2 tsp oyster sauce optional
Instructions
- Heat water in a wok or large saute pan with a steamer insert. Combine eggs, water or stock, salt, rice wine, and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Add mushrooms and Chinese sausage to egg mixture. Pour mixture into a shallow heatproof bowl or pyrex pie plate. Place in steamer and cover. Steam over low heat for 20-25 minutes. The eggs should look set and not jiggle in the middle but not look dry.
Heat peanut oil in a small saucepan until wisps of smoke form. Garnish eggs with green onions and pour hot oil over the green onions and egg.Drizzle with soy sauce and/or oyster sauce over top.Serve immediately with rice.
MIcrowave Cook It!
- Put your ingredients all in one bowl, zap it, bring it to the table, off chance you don't eat it all....toss the covered bowl in the fridge. Truly one-bowl cooking! I cooked at 300 watts or 50% power (I have a teeny 600w microwave) for 8 minutes, or until the custard is barely set in the middle, and jiggles gently if shaken. If it’s too runny, add time at 50% power in 30-second increments. Let rest with the lid on for 1-2 minutes to let the egg gently finish steaming.
