Sides
Zheng Shui Dan
Chinese steamed egg. Eggs are beaten with warm water and gently steamed until they set into a soft, smooth custard. Serve with a little soy sauce and sesame oil.
Makes 2 people · Prep 5 mins · Cook 12 mins · 6 ingredients · 7 steps
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 225g warm water (or chicken or vegetable stock)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 spring onion (finely sliced)
Method
- Weigh the eggs. Crack the eggs into a jug on the scales and note their weight out of the shell — 3 large eggs come to about 150g.
- Beat the eggs. Beat them gently with the salt until evenly mixed, without whipping in air.
- Add the water. Stir in one and a half times the eggs' weight of warm water or stock — so 50g of egg takes 75g, and 150g takes 225g.
- Strain the mixture. Pour the egg mixture through a fine sieve into a shallow heatproof bowl, then skim or pop any bubbles left on the surface.
- Cover the bowl. Cover the bowl with a plate or a sheet of foil so condensation cannot drip onto the eggs.
- Steam gently. Steam over a gentle simmer for 10–12 minutes, until the centre is just set and wobbles as one piece when the bowl is nudged.
- Season and serve. Drizzle over the light soy sauce and sesame oil, scatter with the spring onion and serve straight away with rice.
Good to know
- Use water that is warm rather than hot — hot water starts cooking the eggs before they reach the steamer.
- Weighing the eggs and keeping to 1:1.5 is more reliable than going by egg count, since eggs vary in size; up to double the water gives an even softer set.
- If the surface comes out pitted with holes, the heat was too high: turn it down to a bare simmer next time, or wedge a chopstick under the lid to let some steam out.
- Chicken or vegetable stock in place of the water gives a richer flavour — leave out the salt if the stock is already seasoned.