steamed savory egg custard with silken tofu

I would like to say I am a custard-person. I love anything custardy. Well who doesn't?

This savory custard is very delicate and aromatic. The beauty of this dish is you can make it as simple as you like, or as sophisticated as you want too. To make dish flavorful, the only thing you need is good broth (dashi). I always keep the basic dashi in my refrigerator ready. When in a hurry, I mix eggs and scallion with dashi and just microwave to make simple banchan.

ingredients (serves 2-4)

2 eggs

1 cup silken tofu

1/4 cup dashi

1 scallion/sliced

1 red chili/sliced

1 shitake mushroom (dried or fresh)/sliced

1/4 tsp salted shrimp (or just salt), to know about it, click here.

a few grinds of black pepper

to marinade mushroom

1tsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp sugar

1/8 tsp chopped garlic

1/4 tsp mirin (seasoned cooking wine)

Prepare the mushroom. If you use rehydrated dry mushroom, squeeze out the excess water. Marinade mushroom with soy sauce, sugar, garlic and mirin. In a heat resistant bowl, break eggs and mix well with dashi. (sieve the mixture if you want very silky texture). Season with salted shrimp (or salt) and black pepper. Mix in sliced scallion, reserving some for garnish. Spoon the silken tofu into the mixture, using a table spoon. Garnish with mushroom, scallions and red peppers. Set a steamer on boiling water. Cover the lid of steamer and steam for about 20 minutes (cover the bowl too with tin foil) until the custard is cooked through. Serve with rice.