Steamed Egg with Prawns, Mushrooms & Dried Scallops

I've mentioned that most of my household items have been packed and probably on the way to Saudi by now. Since I'll be back to Singapore once or twice a year in the future, I'm supposed to leave some kitchen utensils here but in the midst of chaos, I let the packing staffs from the mover packed everything in the boxes. Imagine my horror when I wanted to cook something for lunch yesterday, and found out that the shelves are almost empty, only left with a few pieces of ceramic bowls and plates, some spoons, a knife, a wok and a pair of chopsticks. I managed to find a pot though, but the cover is missing... haha! In the end, I had to go to the nearest shop and buy a few essential items, like a metal plate for steaming and stir-frying spatula etc.

Looking for an interesting recipe to cook (and to blog!) is not a simple task either. Curry? No mortar & pestle to pound the spices... Roast chicken perhaps? Not able to do that either since the baking tray is also gone. In the end, I have to go for something that requires steaming or stir-frying with only the simplest ingredients... and in the end, I settled for a steamed egg dish with assorted ingredients.

Steamed egg is something very versatile and it is a common dish in Chinese households. I grew up having my mom's version of steamed egg which includes minced pork, some cai-por (or preserved raddish) and occasionally salted eggs, and it's my all time comfort food! As I read up more and more cookbooks, I've discovered that there are more to this simple dish. There are so many other ingredients that can be used to steam egg, from common ones like char siew, fish slices or clams, to exotic ones like pig's intestines and duck liver (!) etc. The version that I tried out this time round uses simple ingredients but the dried scallops and the stock made the steamed egg very tasty.

Steamed Eggs with Prawns, Mushrooms & Dried Scallops Recipe

Ingredients:
3 eggs
400ml stock
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tbsp rice wine
50g prawns, shelled
10 - 15g dried scallops, soaked in warm water until soft, tear into small pieces
3 pieces of fresh shittake mushrooms, sliced thinly
5cm knob of ginger, shredded
Spring onion, shredded

Method:
1) Beat up 3 eggs until with salt and rice wine, then add in the stock.
2) Depending on your preference, you can use one big soup bowl or 4 small bowls to steam egg. Place half of prawns, mushrooms and dried scallops in the bowl(s).
3) Filter the egg mixture slowly into the bowl(s), making sure that there are no bubbles on the surface. However, if bubbles are formed, they can be removed by laying a piece of tissue paper horizontally on the surface of the egg mixture, and then drag the paper slowly towards the side of the bowl.
4) Heat up a steamer (I used a wok half filled with water and a stand), place the bowl(s) into the steamer, turn down the heat and let it cook for about 10 minutes or about 80% cooked. The egg custard should be quite wobbly at this point in time.
**Note: To ensure that the egg custard is smooth without bubbles, it has to be steamed with low heat all the time.
5) Carefully place the remaining prawns, mushrooms and dried scallops on the surface of the egg custard. Let it steams for another 3-5 minutes until the egg custard is cooked.
6) Serve with shredded spring onions and ginger.