Easy Savory Steamed Egg [蒸蛋] (15 Min)

Breakfast around the world looks very different. In America, we’re familiar with the usuals: cereal, yogurt, toast, waffles, pancakes, bacon, and eggs, oh yes, we love eggs. Eggs can be cooked so many ways and are delicious with nearly anything.  

However, steamed eggs is not something I imagine most people have had. It’s a Chinese dish that I’ve mostly only eaten for dinner but always loved eating the leftovers for breakfast, and thus started to incorporate it into my breakfast food. It’s both familiar yet different, and also happens to fit the traits I like in a breakfast: minimal prep, one dish, tasty, and light.  

No one wants to be working hard to make breakfast before work, or know that they will have to clean dishes, utensils, pans, and cutting boards after. It’s what makes yogurt, cereal, and avocado toast great breakfasts for those on the go. This dish just requires you to mix egg and water, and the only cleanup is a bowl. Of course, you can go the extra mile and make it look perfectly smooth, but this is breakfast, we just want to eat. So, let’s make some steamed egg! 

Ingredients 

• Eggs 
• Water 
• Sesame oil 
• Soy sauce (optional) 
• Scallions (optional) 
• Salt (optional depending on how much soy sauce you'll put in)

Supplies 

• Steamer (can be any kind of steamer) 
• Bowl 
• Fork/chopsticks

Start heating up the water in your steamer. The steamer I’m using is my rice cooker, but you can use a stovetop steamer pot and set the heat on high to get the water heated up. There are also diy steamers you can make with a steamer rack in a wok or a pan. Link to one here. While the water is heating up, we can start on the eggs. 

TLDR: 

• Get the water heating first to start so it’s steaming when the eggs are ready 

Self-explanatory. The number of eggs you use doesn’t really matter, just the ratio of egg to water (1 part egg to 2 parts water). I’ve always done 4 eggs so I can make it for dinner and use the leftovers for breakfast, or I share with other people. If you’re cooking for one meal, just do the normal number of eggs you usually eat in a breakfast. Fewer eggs does reduce cook time but just go with what you want. I recommend whisking with a fork or chopsticks because they’re easier to clean than a whisk. 

TLDR 

• Use the number of eggs you normally eat for breakfast or if you want leftovers, use more. I use 4 or 2.
• Salt base on the amount of soy sauce you expect to use. Generally can salt like you normally do for eggs. 1/4 tsp for 4 eggs may be right but I just eyeball.

The key thing is the roughly 2 parts water to 1 part egg ratio. A typical large egg is roughly 50ml, so for 4 eggs that’s 200ml and you want roughly 400 ml. I always go a little under it just for personal preference and to play it safe so I go with 350-375ml water for 4 eggs. This makes the consistency a tad firmer, and gives me confidence that I’m not going to have a runny mixture at the end due to too much water.

The amount of water isn’t an exact science, so you need to go off of feel a bit. It’s not worth measuring your whisked egg mixture to get an exact volume; estimating will work so long as you’re in the ballpark of the ratio. Simply put, more water makes the eggs silkier and less water firms it up a bit. 

If you want to make sure you have a really smooth top, get rid of some of the bubbles with a spoon or chopsticks, or at least move the bubbles to the edges.

TLDR: 

• Ratio ranges from 1 part egg to 1.5-2 parts water. For 4 eggs I like to go about 375 ml (~1.5 cups). 
• More water = more silky, less water = more firm
• To get a super smooth top, get rid of the floating bubbles or at least push the bubbles to the side.

Now that the eggs are ready, place the bowl in the steamer. If you’re on the stove top and the water is at a rolling boil, dial the heat down a little bit, the steam will still be there. A clear lid is really ideal so you can see the eggs while they’re steaming. Steam for roughly 12 minutes. For my steamer, I’m able to check the eggs through the lid. I’ll give the steamer rack a little shake to see how set the eggs are. I don’t open the lid because that messes with the cooking of the eggs. When I see that just the top of the eggs is starting to set around the edges and that the eggs jiggle, but don’t slosh like liquid, I know it’s done and ready to take out. 

Take the bowl of steamed egg out of the steamer, using oven mitts if needed. If you're not sure, take a spoon to it and cut through it to see if it’s set. It’s okay if the top is still a little liquid, that’s just water that will often steam off. Hopefully your eggs will have a wet custardy soft tofu like texture. If it needs more time, put it back in the steamer, or when I’m in a time crunch, I just put it in the microwave and check every 15-30 seconds.

TLDR:

• Any steamer works, just don't want water falling in the bowl
• Takes roughly 12 minutes for 4 eggs, less depending on the number of eggs
• Give the bowl a little shake to see if it's mostly set and only the top jiggles
• Try and not open the lid until you think it's done

When it’s done, I generously pour some sesame oil, a dash of soy sauce, and use some kitchen shears to cut the greens of scallions on top of the eggs. I use a spoon to pool the oil and soy sauce and distribute it across the surface of the egg. Finally, I slice it with the spoon into 9 pieces. Now let’s eat! I really like eating it with some cold leftover rice, or I’ll cook some noodles in another pot since they take the same time to cook. I take leftovers from dinner like vegetables or salmon and throw it in there too! It’s a great way to start off breakfast with an energy-rich meal! 

TLDR:

• Sesame oil, soy sauce, and scallions/chives are great and add savory depth. Otherwise the egg is a bit too bland.
• Great with rice and leftover vegetables. I also like it with noodles. Some protein like leftover salmon is really good with it as well