My spot prawn chawanmushi has a delicate flavor and silky custard studded with prawns and shiitake mushrooms.
Spot prawns are finally back in season. I was so excited to use them for spot prawn chawanmushi, a recipe inspired by the delicious chawanmushi I had at Shiro’s Sushi and Kamonegi in Seattle. Chawanmushi is a popular Japanese egg custard in which the eggs are mixed with dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and salt, then steamed until a silky custard forms. In Japanese, “Chawan” means teacup or rice bowl and “mushi” means steamed. After steaming for 12 minutes, you get an umami rich custard with sweet spot prawns and meaty shiitake mushrooms.
Ingredient Notes
- Spot prawns: Spot prawns are a cold water, West Coast treasures. They have orange-red shells with snow-white fresh that is delicious, delicate, and sweet like lobster. You’ve probably seen them on the sushi menu of Japanese restaurants as amaebi, or sweet shrimp. The best place to buy spot prawns in San Diego is Tuna Harbor Dockside Market. Occasionally you might find them at H-mart. If you can't find spot prawns, use tiger prawns.
- Kombu: is a member of the kelp family. It's a Japanese pantry staple used for making dashi, sushi rice, stew, and salad. Tasting mildly salty and subtly sweet, it contains glutamic acid (the basis of monosodium glutamate, or MSG) to help enhance flavor.
- Katsuobushi: or dried bonito flake, made from smoked skipjack tuna. Katsuobushi is used in making stock such as dashi and as a topping, garnish, and seasoning from noodles to rice and eggs. With its mildly salty, smoky, and slightly fishy flavor, it lends umami to the dashi.
- Mirin: mirin is a Japanese rice wine made from mochi rice that has about 14 percent alcohol and adds a mild sweetness and aroma to the final dish.
How to Make the Dashi
The cornerstone of chawanmushi is dashi. Dashi is made with three ingredients: kombu, katsuobushi, and water. To make the dashi, soak the kombu for 30 minutes or overnight. 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 cook for 5 minutes over low heat. Remove the pot from the heat and let it infuse for 10 minutes. Use a fine mesh strainer and set it over a large bowl to strain the dashi. Either discard the bonito flakes or save it for a second dashi.
How Long Will Dashi Last
Fresh dashi will keep in the fridge for three days. You can freeze them as ice cubes and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to Make Egg Custard
To make the spot prawn 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. Divide the chopped prawns and shiitake mushrooms among 4 small ceramic bowls. Pour ½ cup of egg dashi mixture into each bowl. Cover them tightly with foil.
How Long to Steam the Custard
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. The temperature in the steamer should be 195-200 degrees F. Keeping the right temperature will help it cook through. If the temperature is too high, it will puff up too high and form bubbles. 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. If your steaming is not be enough to hold 4 ceramic bowls, cook them in two batches.
Remove the spot prawn chawanmushi and set aside for them to cool while you steam the remaining prawns. Add 4 deveined prawns to a small bowl and steam them on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes until they are pink and no longer clear.
When ready to serve, top the chawanmushi with steamed spot prawns, chopped chives, and freshly ground pepper.
For more Japanese food inspiration:
Spot Prawn Chawanmushi
Equipment
- large steamer or steaming basket
Ingredients
Dashi
- 4 cups water
- 0.2 ounce kombu (2 pieces), soaked for 30 minutes
- .5 ounce bonito flakes, about 1 cup packed
Chawanmushi
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups dashi
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 4 ounces spot prawns (about 8 prawns)
- 4 small fresh shiitake mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
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 cook for 5 minutes over low heat. Remove the pot from the heat and let it infuse for 10 minutes. Use a fine mesh strainer and set it over a large bowl to strain the dashi.
- Peel, devein, and chop half of the prawns in small pieces. Reserve 4 prawns deveined but shell on for the topping.
- Chop the shiitake mushrooms in small pieces.
- To make the spot prawn 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.
- Divide the chopped prawns and shiitake mushrooms among 4 small ceramic 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.
- Remove the spot prawn chawanmushi and set aside for them to cool while you steam the remaining prawns. Add 4 deveined prawns to a small bowl and steam them on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes until they are pink and no longer clear. Remove the shell.
- When ready to serve, top the chawanmushi with steamed spot prawns, chopped chives, and freshly ground pepper.
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