CHAWANMUSHI

Ingredients:

3 eggs, 500cc dashi (ichiban-dashi), 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon usukuchi (lightly flavored) soy sauce, 50 g sasami chicken meat, 4 shrimps, 50 g shimeji mushrooms, 4 slices of kamaboko, half stalk of mitsuba (trefoil), yuzu (citron) peel.

Preparation:

1. 
   
   Making egg mixture


2. Break eggs in a large ball. Draw the letter Z on the bottom with the tip of the chopsticks, do not foam.


3. Little by little, add cooled dashi and then salt, soy sauce.


4. To improve texture, strain egg through a net.

Filling

1. 
   
   Remove white sinewy tissue from sasami chicken meat. Cut into bite size pieces. Sprinkle with soy sauce.


2. Remove black vein from shrimps. Devine except for tail. (see "seafood preparation")


3. Remove roots of shimeji mushrooms, tear into easy to eat pieces.


4. Cut mitsuba (trefoil) into 3cm pieces.


5. Thinly slice peel of yuzu.

How to make:

1. Prepare 4 Chawan mushi serving cups. If serving cups with lids are not available, use tea cup covered with aluminum foil.


2. Divide fillings into 4 except for mitsuba and yuzu strips, neatly place filling and kamaboko slices in individual cups.


3. Pour in egg mixture.


4. Fill a double-boiler pan (mushiki) half full with water.


5. When water comes to a boil, place cups in to steam.


6. Cover with cheesecloth, place lid slightly off so that steam can escape.


7. Heat 1-2 minutes on a strong fire, reduce heat and cook for an additional 12-15 minutes. If the fire is too strong or if steamed too long, Chawan mushi becomes spongy, loses flavor and attractiveness.


8. Insert bamboo stick to check readiness. If clear liquid rises Chawan mushi is ready.


9. Take cups out of steamer. Top with mitsuba and yuzu, re-cover.


10. Chawan mushi is served chilled in summer, hot in winter.

Evaluation:

Chawanmushi is a popular Jappaness dish, one that is mostly ordered as an appetizer at Japanese restaurants.

I realised that the Japaness Chawamushi" s recipe is simmilar with the Chinese steam egg. The different is that we usually dosen't put sea food or meet in Chinese steam egg. But for Japaness Chawamushi, for developing its taste, we offent add in some other food and either for decoraction propers to make it looking good.

During cooking, I fond out that it is difficult to make them look perfectly and silky smooth. The herb we add, which had doen a good job for making aroma. It make the dish smell pretty good...

I am very pleased with the results.

(Ho Chia yi-2E1B)