Chawanmushi

• 1 yurine (lily root)
• 12 raw ginkgo nuts – shelled and peeled
• 12 stalks trefoil (or spinach)
• 4 slices kamaboko (fish cake)
• 4 shitake mushrooms or ¼ enokitake mushroom
• 4 raw shrimp (small)
• 3 oz chicken breast
• 1 tsp sake
• 1 tsp light soy sauce (for marinade)

Dashi:

• kombu (kelp)
• katsuobushi shavings (bonito flakes)

Custard:

• 4 medium eggs
• 2½ cups dashi (see below)
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp mirin
• 1 tsp light soy sauce

Dashi (fish stock): Add kombu to 2½ cups of cold water. Heat to simmer. Remove from heat and add katsuobushi. Wait until katsuobushi sinks to bottom and strain

Cut chicken breast into ½” pieces. Marinate in small amount of sake and light soy sauce for 15 minutes. Drain and discard marinade.

Pour splash of oil into heated skillet. Sauté enokitake mushrooms until golden brown adding a bit of soy sauce or salt to taste. Let the liquid cook off as you brown the mushrooms.

Blanch shrimp in hot water for 30 seconds, remove, and pat dry.

Separate yurine into segments and parboil gently in lightly salted water for 4-5 minutes. Drain. Wash trefoil or other greens, pat dry, and chop coarsely.

Beat eggs in a medium-sized bowl. In another bowl mix the room-temperature dashi, salt, mirin, and light soy sauce. Pour stock mixture in a thin stream into beaten egg. Mix well, but do not beat. The surface of the mixture should be free of bubbles or foam. Pass through a fine chinois. The seasoned stock mixture should be 3 times the volume of beaten egg.

Divide the solid ingredients except trefoil (ginkgo nut, chicken, shrimp, mushroom, kamaboko, and tiny bit of yurine) between 4 porcelain serving cups. Ladle the egg stock mixture into the cups, filling them to about ½” from the top. Add chopped trefoil.

Cover each cup with plastic wrap or foil and set in a hot steamer. Cover steamer and steam over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes. The chawanmushi is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The custard should be set but still jiggle freely. The volume of the custard will not increase much. It is overdone if the top is pocked or cracked and tough looking. Makes 4 servings.