Name: Silky Egg Custard with Baby Clams (蛤蝴蒸蛋)
Yield: Serves 6–8, depending on the daintiness of the portion.
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1⅓ cups rich, unsalted chicken stock at room temperature plus ½ cup canning liquid or quality, bottled clam juice; 4 teaspoons thin-cut green and white scallion rings or thin-cut rings of Chinese chives; sprinkling of freshly ground white pepper (optional); 2 teaspoons thin (regular) soy sauce; 2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or quality, dry sherry; 4 large eggs, at room temperature; about 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, to taste; 1 8–10-ounce can quality, whole baby clams, well-drained, juice reserved

Preparation info

Serves
6–8
, depending on the daintiness of the portion.

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking

By Barbara Tropp

Published 1982

About

This is an exceedingly light, delicate dish, whose charm is its simplicity. Known in Japan as chawan mushi, or “steamed thing in a tea bowl,” it is a very silky egg custard made with seasoned stock and a sprinkling of cooked or marinated seafood or poultry, which is steamed and served hot in individual cups. The steaming gives the custard a slightly soft texture, unlike the firm baked custards to which we are accustomed in the West, and I often serve it instead of a soup to highlight