Chawanmushi

(This is still in the "notes that will only makes sense to me" stage - recipe refinement to follow ... maybe)

Notes:

Did you know?! (selfeyeroll) You can eliminate the bubbles that form around the edges of things like this using a kitchen torch! And you SHOULD get rid of the bubbles whether wirth blowtorch or toothpick or leaving it alone for a while until it happens on its own or it will be all pockmark looking.

Egg to Dashi ration should be 1:3 so scale up or down with that ratio in mind

Dashi:

• Use Crystal Geyser water - 1 liter - (metric magic ... that will weight 1000g)
• 10g kombu soaked one hour
• bring to simmer - remove kombu from water at 80*C/180*F (ish - I used all my metric magic above ... this is close enough for hand grenades in terms of temp conversion ... pretty much "bubbles forming but not actually quite a simmer just yet, but almost")

***You can keep used kombu aside, julienne into 3" long pieces and add to leftover katusobushi (also chopped a bit more finely) for making furikake - you also add pretty much teriyaki ingredients to all of that and sautee until pan is nearly dry and shiny shiny shiny and then add toasted sesame seeds - the actual amoutns and ingredients are around here somewhere, hopefully I will kink it at some point ... ***

• bring the pot to a boil - when it reaches a boil, kill the heat and add 20 g Katsuobushi and leave it alone completely for 5 minutes.
  
• pour the pot through cheesecloth/papertowel and strainer/funnel into container - wait until completely cool before storing - store up to 4 days

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1.5 C dashi
• 0.5C egg (2-ish)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• add ins - kamaboko, mushrooms, scallops, edamame, shrimp, chicken, peas, mushrooms, etc.
• mitsuba (no mitsuba? - flat leaf parsley is fine)

Blend eggs with chopsticks ntil uniform, add dashi and salt, mix trying to get as few bubbles as possible.  Strain mixture.  Add in the add ins to lidded cuips, then add in egg mixture, cover with foil or lids.

Prepare pot to steam the cups - make sure the cups do not touch the bottom of cooking pot and that the containers are not floating - water does not need to actually touch the cups, but CAN touch the cups, so long as the water level does not allow for water to seep inside the cups

Bring the water to a boil and drop to low heat so the water is simmering - should take somewhere around 20 min but it all depends on volume, how thick the cup is, how many add ins, etc.

done when 160*f or more 

September 10, 2023

Going for 2  servings of chawanmushi - thinking one egg and whatever 3x that volume in dashi.  Made GORGEOUS dashi according to notes above yesterday so I will be using that  - I have seen people say you can sub in any stock or use instant dashi (so long as you strain it extra well so it doesn't look nasty when finished) but ... don't. This is literally dashi egg and salt and whatever add ins you decide to use - there is nowhere to hide any weird flavors and every opportunity for a really well crafted dashi to shine. It's so painless to make dashi from kombu, katsuobushi and filtered water and its so front and center in something like katsuobushi - it's not worth making chawanmushi unless you are willing to use good ingredients.

sliced shiitake - added to cups raw
lotsa kamaboko
sauteed enoki
mitsuba