If you find yourself short of one dish to serve for dinner, make some Chinese steamed egg also know in Cantonese as “wat don” or “slippery egg”. If you want something to warm you on a cold day, make steamed eggs. If you’re too lazy to make a complicated dinner? You guessed it. Steamed egg.
You would never think to steam eggs but this is one of those easy Chinese comfort foods that you can never go wrong with. It’s so easy to make and looks super delicate and elegant. It can be rustic or fancy…rural or uptown. It’s a great dish for young kids and the elderly. Poor Sarah is sick with a nasty cold, so I figured it would be a good time to make her a Chinese steamed egg for a cold remedy.
Instead of using just water, I added some chicken stock for extra flavor and nutrients. You can also use vegetable stock if you want to keep it vegetarian. I have seen many versions of this Chinese steamed egg dish–with mushrooms, a drizzle of soy sauce, clams, crab, chicken…Basically, you be the chef, make this Chinese steamed egg recipe your own and prepare it any way you like it.
Steamed Eggs: Recipe Instructions
Crack 3 eggs in a liquid measuring cup and note the volume. Pour the eggs into a large bowl, add salt, and beat for at least 1 minute. Now measure out water at the same volume as the eggs, and add it to the bowl. Do the same with the chicken stock.
Whisk in the sesame oil, and make sure everything’s well combined.
Place 4 empty ramekins in a steamer over high heat. (Alternatively, you can also use just 1 shallow, heatproof bowl). Be sure the water will not bubble and touch the ramekins during steaming. Once the water boils, turn the heat down to a slow simmer.
Then, divide the egg mixture into the ramekins, pouring it through a fine mesh strainer. This prevents bubbles from forming, and gives you a glassy texture, similar to our Hong Kong egg tarts. We actually didn’t use a fine enough strainer, so the texture wasn’t as smooth as it could have been.
Prepare the steamer and see our post on how to set up a steamer if you’re not familiar with steaming foods in Chinese cooking.
Cover the steamer, turn up the heat to high, and steam for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes have elapsed, shut off the heat but keep the steamer covered. Let stand for 14 minutes with the lid firmly covered. Remove your steamed egg dishes from the steamer, sprinkle with scallions, and serve.
After it cools down a bit out of the steamer, just use a spoon to scoop out that delightful Chinese steamed egg goodness!
Steamed Egg
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- Water (same volume as eggs)
- Vegetable or chicken stock (same volume as eggs)
- Salt (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- Chopped scallion
Instructions
- Crack 3 eggs in a liquid measuring cup and note the volume. Pour the eggs into a large bowl, add salt, and beat for at least 1 minute. Now measure out water at the same volume as the eggs, and add it to the bowl. Do the same with the broth. Whisk in the sesame oil, and make sure everything's well combined.
- Place 4 empty ramekins in a steamer over high heat. Be sure the water will not bubble and touch the ramekins during steaming. Once the water boils, turn the heat down to a slow simmer. Then, divide the egg mixture into the ramekins, pouring it through a fine mesh strainer.
- Cover the steamer, turn up the heat to high, and steam for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes have elapsed, shut off the heat but keep the steamer covered. Let stand for 14 minutes with the lid firmly covered. Remove from the steamer, sprinkle with scallions, and serve.
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