The Time I Didn’t Invent Chawanmushi - A Blog
I recently entered my first culinary competition at George Brown and I was trying to come up with something truly unique. I settled on trying to create a savoury creme brulée, using a dashi and egg yolks for the base. Very pleased with myself, I asked the sous-chef at work about what he thought a good garnish for my “invention” would be. Immediately, he informed me that this dish already very much existed and is called Chawanmushi. Undeterred, I stuck with it and created a take on this classic Japanese dish.
Chawanmushi is a steamed Japanese Egg Custard that that originated in Nagasaki. “Chawanmushi started popping up over 300 years ago during the Edo Period in shippoku cuisine, an ancient version of fusion between Japanese, Chinese and Western influences,” [Tara Condell, jamesbeard.org, November 28th, 2016]. The custard is comprised of egg yolks, dashi, soy sauce and mirin and it is usually garnished with shiitake mushrooms, ginkgo nuts, ikura (salmon roe) and kamaboko (fish cakes). Traditionally, chawanmushi is steamed in small teacups that are half submerged in boiling water and covered.
[Photo from justonecookbook.com]
Rather than just using dashi, I steeped bonito flakes, kombu, garlic and onions in cream and strained it. From there I tempered egg yolks with the cream and mixed in mirin and soy sauce for the base. Within seconds of adding the bonito flakes and kombu into the cream, my apartment was filled with an incredibly savoury, fishy aroma. At first I was worried it would be too strong but mixing it with the mirin, soy and eggs balanced it out really well.
Another way I changed it up was by instead of steaming it in a teacup on the stove, I put the custard in ramekins, placed them in a pan with water and cooked them in the oven. I don’t know how much of a difference it made but I’ll find that out the next time I make it, which I definitely will. Finally, in addition to trout roe (a little more cost effective than salmon roe) and shiitake mushrooms, I roasted thinly sliced lotus root and a wasabi-lemon foam.
Honestly, I had my doubts that this would work or if it did, whether or not I would actually enjoy it. I love custard but had never had a savoury/umami one before so I had no idea what to expect. I pulled it out of the oven, let it set and garnished it. When I took my first spoonful, the texture looked great and it had set like I hoped it would. However I have to say it was the strangest sensation eating it; my brain was telling me “custard = sweet,” and then I took a bite and immediately thought “nope, fish.”
Once I got past the initial mindf**k that was my first bite, I recalled my notes from week 5 to focus more on the flavours, the textures and the presentation as well as the five basic tastes (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami). The only thing I can think of that would be at all similar, flavour-wise is a cod gratin but other than that, I found it to be a really unique dish.
[https://newlywedsfoods.com/five-basic-tastes/]
Overall, the main three tastes I picked up were umami, salty and sour. The briny, fishy quality from the bonito flakes, that I felt on the front of my tongue, was cut nicely with the citrus in and on top of the wasabi foam. Though the most prevalent flavour of the dish was the bonito flakes, I could taste all of the individual garnishes.
The salmon roe added a very interesting texture which was contrasted well by the crunch of the roasted lotus root. The root, which I tossed in sesame oil, salt and crushed Szechuan peppercorns, was probably my favourite of the garnishes. Obviously it’s great for aesthetic and texture but I love that it’s porous structure absorbs so much of the toasted peppercorns and sesame oil. I chose all of those garnishes for a reason as they all added dimension to the dish, as well as colour and flavour.
In the end, despite being crushed that I didn’t invent some cool new dish, I was happy with how it turned out. I could have levelled things out by adding a bit more acidity (something pickled?) and finding even more contrasting textures so that the lotus root isn’t the only thing with a crunch. Knowing that chawanmushi is available all over Toronto, I’ll be hitting up a few places, as I am really keen to try some that’s been made by someone who knows what they’re doing!
Approaching this dish from a competitive angle made me really think about all the components that went into it. However now that I’ve begun to think like this about the food I make, I will undoubtedly begin to think like this when it comes to all the food I eat. Thanks for reading!
“NEXT TIME ON TREATS WITH HUGHBEREATS! WILL HUGH GIVE HIMSELF BOTULISM FROM HIS INGESTING HIS ASSIGNMENT FOR BLOG #4?! TUNE IN AT THE NEXT DEADLINE TO FIND OUT!”
