Chef Anna Chen dazzles in Bloordale Village from her minimally adorned shoebox of a restaurant, Bib Gourmand Alma. Is this Chinese or fusion? Red lanterns dangling from the ceiling and a ceramic lucky cat waving from the corner hint at the menu's intentions but the chef needn’t be bothered with labels. Here's chef Chen's recipe for Japanese-leaning steamed egg with shiitake mushrooms.
Ingredients
- 1 whole egg (large)
- 1 egg yolk (large)
- 50g dashi or stock of your choice
- 3-4 shiitake mushrooms (depending on size)
- 3 tablespoon sliced scallions, plus extra for garnishing
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Alma chef Anna Chen
© Alma
© Alma
Method
- Have bamboo steamer set up, making sure to have the water boiling steadily.
- Slice shiitake mushrooms and scallions and set aside.
- Place the whole egg, yolk and dashi/stock in a bowl. Whisk together briskly. It should all look homogenous. Pour this into the bowl you are going to steam in. Carefully place this in the steamer. Cover with lid. Set timer for 9 min.
- While the egg is steaming, place a sauté pan on medium heat. Add your vegetable oil. Sauté the mushrooms and scallion together. Season with salt to taste.
- When the 9 min timer goes off, your steam egg should be nice and set. You should see a soft jiggle when you move it, but there should not be any raw egg left over.
- Spoon the soy sauce on top of the steamed egg and add the mushrooms. Spoon the sesame oil over and sprinkle some raw sliced scallion on top.
Table at Alma © Sarah Kohler/Alma
Hero image: Alma chef-owner Anna Chen's steamed egg with shiitake mushrooms
© Alma
