Steamed Egg Custard Soup

Description
Rev. Saito was a great cook. We enjoyed his cooking. He loved to treat people by making sushi, steamed, and Steak. During one Buddhist retreat he made the largest chawan-mushi (steamed egg-custard soup) I had seen in my life. Ignoring the traditional method, which involved a small soup cup, he used a huge pot into which he put dozens of eggs. When he cooked, I used to cut vegetables for him. Thanks to him, I am now not so much a Buddhist scholar as a kitchen helper. My wife Tomoko is very grateful to him because he domesticated me and taught me how to cut vegetables and cook.

Ingredients

 * 80g boned Chicken thigh, cut into small bite-sized pieces


 * Dash of sake and light soy sauce


 * 4 prawns, shelled


 * Dash of salt


 * 1 sea eel (commercially grilled), cut lengthwise into halves and again cut across into 1cm wide strips


 * 1/4 lily bulb, flaked and lightly boiled


 * 8 gingko nuts, shelled with soft skin removed


 * 1/3 bunch of Japanese honewort, discard the leaves and cut the stalk into 1.5cm sections


 * 400cc dashi


 * 15cc mirin


 * 15cc light soy sauce


 * 1/2 tsp. salt


 * 2 eggs, well beaten until smooth


 * 1/4 yuzu, rind cut into several pieces

Directions

 * 1) Boil the Chicken pieces until white on the surface.
 * 2) Soak in cold water and drain.
 * 3) Sprinkle with sake and light soy sauce the evenly coat using fingers.
 * 4) Set aside for 5 to 6 minutes.


 * 1) Make a shallow cut on the dorsal side of prawns to devain. Sprinkle with salt and rub well. Rinse in water and drain. Cut into halves.


 * 1) Put dashi, mirin, light soy sauce and salt in a mixing bowl and blend thoroughly.
 * 2) Add already beaten eggs and mix thoroughly.


 * 1) Strain through a narrow meshed strainer for a smoother texture.


 * 1) Place Chicken, prawns, sea eel, lily bulb, gingko nuts and Japanese honewort into small heatproof bowls and pour in the egg mixture.
 * 2) Cover and cook in a preheated steamer over high heat for the first 3 minutes.
 * 3) After checking that the surface of the egg mixture has a whitish hue, reduce the heat to low and cook for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.
 * 4) Pierce a bamboo skewer through the center of the egg custard to check whether soup is clear.
 * 5) Remove from steamer and top with yuzu rind.