Chawanmushi

Ingredients

• 3Eggbeat without creating foam, then strain
• 2 cupsDashibase broth for the custard; shirodashi or instant soup base with water also used
• 2 tspLight soy sauceto season the broth, keeps the colour pale
• 1 tspMirinfor mild sweetness in the broth
• 1 tspSaketo marinate the chicken or season the broth
• ½ tspSaltdissolve completely in the broth
• 2¾ ozChickenthigh, breast or tenderloin, cut bite-size
• 4Shrimppeeled and deveined
• 2Shiitake mushroomremove stem, slice or quarter; soak first if dried
• 4Kamaboko (fish cake)thin slices as filling
• Mitsubacut short, as filling and garnish
• 8Ginkgo nutspre-cooked or from a jar

Method

1. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and season it with sake and salt or light soy sauce. Peel and devein the shrimp, remove the shiitake stems and slice or quarter the caps, cut the kamaboko into thin slices and cut the mitsuba short. If you are using dried shiitake, soak them first.
2. Stir the dashi together with the light soy sauce, mirin and salt until the salt has dissolved completely, then let the broth cool to body temperature.
3. Beat the eggs without letting foam form and mix them with the seasoned broth.
4. Pass the egg mixture through a sieve so the chalazae and any bits of white stay behind.
5. Divide the chicken, shrimp, shiitake, kamaboko and ginkgo nuts between the cups and pour in the egg mixture carefully, filling them about three-quarters to four-fifths full.
6. Skim off any bubbles on the surface or pop them with a skewer, then cover the cups with foil.
7. Set the cups in the preheated steamer, start them briefly over high heat, then cook for 10 to 15 minutes over low heat. Wrap the lid in a cloth or leave it open a crack so no condensation drips down and the temperature doesn't climb too high.
8. Test with a wooden skewer: if clear liquid rises and the chicken is cooked through, the custard is done.
9. Lay the mitsuba on top, let the cups rest briefly covered and serve warm.

Tips and variations

If you like the shrimp especially tender, set them on the already-set surface after the main cooking time and steam them for only about three minutes more. The dashi can be steeped cold overnight with kombu and katsuobushi or made hot; a ready-made seasoning base works just as well, such as shirodashi with water or an udon soup base. Without a steamer, stand the cups on kitchen paper or a cloth in a pan or pot and pour in a few centimetres of water; a chopstick wedged between pot and lid keeps the heat down. In the microwave, cover the cup loosely with film, cook for three minutes at 500 watts and let it finish in the residual heat. Besides mitsuba, surimi crab sticks and spring onion make a good garnish.