My crab chawanmushi is studded with sweet crab meat and tender vegetables in an umami custard flavored with yuzu.
When we visited Japan last summer, I had chawanmushi (Japanese egg custard) almost everyday. Many foodies were probably looking for the best ramen but chawanmushi was at the top of my quest. Every restaurant had a different version but three that stood out to me were the crab, unagi, and uni all paired with different vegetables. Now that Dungeness crab season is here, I couldn’t resist making my version of crab chawanmushi. Dig into the umami, silky custard for pieces of sweet crab meat, tender carrots and green beans, and meaty shiitake mushroom.
Ingredient Notes:
- Mushroom: I used dried shiitake mushrooms. Rinse them in cold water then rehydrate by soaking in cold water for about 20 minutes before cooking. Squeeze out the excess water and chop them into small pieces, discarding the hard stems. Fresh shiitake is a great alternative and you can skip the rehydrating step.
- Vegetables: I used a medley of green beans and carrots. I cut them small enough so you don’t need to pre-steam or parboil them. You can substitute with other vegetables like peas, asparagus, or corn.
- Crab: for the crab meat, I like using Dungeness crabs. A 2-pound Dungeness crab yields about 8-10 ounces of meat. Picking the meat is the most time consuming part of this recipe. You can also buy tubs of lump crabmeat at the grocery store if you don’t have time.
- Yuzu: yuzu is a small, bumpy, yellow citrus fruit with tart, sour flavor and a floral scent unlike other citrus. It tastes like a combination of a lemon and a grapefruit. You can find it at Japanese or Korean supermarkets. They’re available at Mitsuwa, Tokyo Central, and Specialty Produce in San Diego. If you can't find yuzu, you can substitute it with Meyer lemons.
How to Make Chawanmushi
- Make the dashi and let it cool to room temperature.
- Steam Dungeness crab and pick out the meat.
- Prep the vegetables by cutting them into small pieces.
- Make the chawanmushi broth by combining dashi, eggs, mirin, soy, and salt. Strain the mixture to get a smooth custard.
- Add 1.5 ounces of crab meat in each ceramic bowl/cup. Pour the dashi mixture into the bowl. Top with vegetables. Cover the bowls with foil.
- Steam the crab chawanmushi for 12 minutes on medium-high heat until the center is slightly jiggly. If the center is still runny, cook for another 2 minutes until set. If your steamer is not big enough to hold 4 ceramic bowls, cook them in two batches.
- Add reserved crab meat to the chawanmushi. Garnish with cilantro and freshly ground pepper before serving.
Make Ahead and Storage
All the ingredients can be prepped the day before. Store the crab chawanmushi covered in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
For more Japanese food inspiration:
Crab Chawanmushi
My crab chawanmushi is studded with sweet crab meat, tender vegetables in an umami custard flavored with yuzu.
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Servings: 4 servings
Equipment
- large steamer or steaming basket
Ingredients
Dashi
- 4 cups water
- 0.2 ounce kombu (2 pieces), soaked for 30 minutes
- 0.5 ounce bonito flakes, about 1 cup packed
- 1 oz yuzu peels (substitute with Meyer lemon peels)
Chawanmushi
- 1 ½ cups dashi
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 8 ounces Dungeness crab meat, divided
- 4 small dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated with hot water for 20 minutes
- 2 tablespoons green bean, chopped in small pieces
- 1 tablespoon carrot, diced
- 1 tablespoon cilantro leaves, chopped
- freshly ground pepper for serving
Instructions
- To make the dashi, in a small saucepan, add kombu to the water, then let it gently simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Do not let it boil or the dashi might pick up the fishiness of the kombu and become slimy. Remove the kombu and discard or save it for another batch of dashi.
- Add the bonito flakes and yuzu peels and cook for 5 minutes over low heat. Remove the pot from the heat and let it infuse for 15 minutes. Use a fine mesh strainer and set it over a large bowl to strain the dashi.
- Slice the shiitake mushrooms in small pieces.
- To make the crab chawanmushi, in a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk to break them up. Add dashi, mirin, soy sauce, and salt and whisk until well combined. Strain the egg dashi mixture through a fine mesh strainer. You should get about 2 cups of liquid.
- Add 1.5 ounces of crab meat to each ceramic bowl. Divide green beans, carrot, and shiitake mushrooms among the bowls. Pour ½ cup of egg dashi mixture into each bowl. Cover them tightly with foil.
- In a large steamer, pour enough water to about 3 inches high. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the chawanmushi bowls and steam over medium-high heat for 12 minutes.
- At 12 minutes, remove the foil from one of the bowls and check for doneness. The center should be slightly jiggly. If the center is still runny, cook for another 2 minutes until set.
- Uncover foil, add 0.5 ounce crab meat to each bowl, cover with foil and let residual heat warm up the crab meat.
- When ready to serve, garnish with cilantro and freshly ground pepper.
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