Steamed Egg Custard with Morel Mushrooms and Shrimp Paste

Cooking StepsHow to cook Steamed Egg Custard with Morel Mushrooms and Shrimp Paste step by step

Cooking Process

1. 
   Step 1

   Fresh morels bought from Dingdong grocery. They tend to be quite large — you can also use dried ones rehydrated. I stuffed four morels with one box of shrimp paste.

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2. 
   Step 2

   Beat 3 eggs in a bowl.

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3. 
   Step 3

   Add 1.5 times the volume of water (approx. 230ml) and whisk well.

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4. 
   Step 4

   Squeeze in one pump of chicken bouillon. If you don’t have it, add a teaspoon of salt instead.

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5. 
   Step 5

   Strain the egg mixture through a fine sieve for a silky texture.

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6. 
   Step 6

   While the water comes to a boil, prepare the stuffed morels. Slice each morel open and fill with shrimp paste. You can also pipe it in with a piping bag for plump results, but you’ll lose the nice red cut surface.

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7. 
   Step 7

   Once water is steaming, place the egg custard in and steam for about 15 minutes. Adjust based on your usual steaming power — I slightly over-steamed mine this time.

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8. 
   Step 8

   Arrange the stuffed morels on top of the custard and steam for another 8 minutes.

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9. 
   Step 9

   The morels release umami liquid into the egg custard, making it even more delicious.

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10. 
    Step 10

    Sprinkle with chopped scallions and drizzle with hot oil to finish.

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11. 
    Step 11

    Done! Time to dig in!

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12. 
    Step 12

    I also made a mixed ‘family fortune’ style soup. Adding chicken bouillon made it incredibly savory and saved me the trouble of making stock from scratch.

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13. 
    Step 13

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14. 
    Step 14

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15. 
    Step 15

    This time I used Nan Shi Zhao brand fresh chicken bouillon. It has a much cleaner ingredient list than products like Nong Tang Bao. If you don’t have time to make chicken stock, add a little of this to stir-fries, noodles, wontons, or dumplings — it instantly elevates the dish.

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