Steamed Egg Custard with Fried Salted Fish

Steamed Egg Custard with Fried Salted Fish

A week ago I blogged about my Chawan Mushi aux Girolles that was really quite yummy except for the fact that as usual I was distracted and didn't watch the heat that day. Holes appeared on my egg custard. I've posted a photo of it anyway so that it would serve as a reminder to all egg custard makers to watch the heat.

In the same week, 2 blogs that I'm a fan of blogged about their very smooth steamed egg custards :-). No, I'm not envious since the wonderful thing about blogging is that you get to learn from and be inspired by so many people. But I certainly am embarrassed. I felt that it was a gentle reminder of how I tend to be so légère about getting a job done properly, how whether it comes to my person or my food I do not bother enough to work on the presentation. I usually am in a hurry to get ready/get it done and just go/eat. How many times has Hub complained about that?

When I had a craving yesterday for salted fish, I made my favourite Steamed Egg Custard with Fried Salted Fish. When Hub wasn't around, of course. He hates the smell of salted fish.

This time, I made it a point to watch the heat. Custard turned out smooth, firm and silky. Whew. The only blemishes you see came from the salted fish, oil and black pepper. I allowed the water to come to a boil after which I lowered the heat and put in the egg mixture to steam. Left a small gap for the steam to escape and watched the custard from to time to make sure that it was becoming firm.

We went out for dinner just Hub and I last evening. We had a few things to discuss and wanted to dine on fish. So we went to William's in Maranello. We had Octopus with raw Porcini mushrooms (excellent), grilled Scampi, Fish fritters and a Salt-baked Sea Bass. One of the best meals that we've eaten in the restaurant.

Steamed Egg Custard with Fried Salted Fish :

3 eggs (beaten)

360ml filtered tap water

a pinch of ground black pepper

a piece of good-quality salted fish

1 tsp light soy sauce

a few drops of toasted sesame oil

3 tbsp light chicken stock

1 bird's eye chilli (crushed)

Fry the salted fish till crispy and pungent. Remove and slice into tiny pieces.

Beat the eggs and mix with the water. I didn't season it (except for the pepper) or use chicken stock as the salted fish will be very salty already. Sieve through twice.

Bring some water to a boil in a large wok.

In a shallow dish add half the salted fish and pour the egg custard mixture over.

No holes, custard is smooth, firm and silky

Lower the heat and place the dish on a metal rack in the wok, making sure that the water doesn't touch the dish. Cover the wok leaving a small gap so that some of the steam may escape. Steam for around 20 minutes or until the egg custard is firm. If the temperature's right, there will be no holes in the custard.

Prepare the sauce. When the egg custard is cooked, sprinkle the remaining salted fish on it and pour the sauce over. Serve hot.