Three Color Steamed Egg

This Three Color Steamed Egg refers to the colors from chicken egg, salted duck egg and century egg. But from my dish you can only see one piece of century egg peeking out from the chicken egg.

I took this recipe from the cookbook A Taste of Home by Andrew Kow. This is the first time I am doing a steamed egg and I was quite excited. Having  three types of eggs in a dish is definitely something I look forwards to.

And you know what? This is also the first time that I am handling raw duck egg. Hah! Hah! When I broke open the first egg, I realized that the egg shell is tough and the membrane is even tougher. Are duck eggs like that or is this the result of the salting process? The egg yolks were gooey and I found it tricky to cut them into smaller pieces. 

As for the century eggs (I used duck century egg), no problems and this batch I bought from Aeon are rather good. The last batch I bought from Tesco was quite difficult to handle because the clay casing was damp and very hard. This one was dry and brittle and removing it was a breeze. It took quite a bit of will power for me not to pop the century egg into my mouth. I love century eggs!!!

I also looked up Martin Yan's Chinese Cooking For Dummies on how to get a smooth steamed egg. The tip is to use one half of the cracked eggshell to measure the water to add to the eggs. For each egg, add three portions of water measured using that half eggshell. Also, when steaming, lay two wooden chopsticks across the steamer's rim and then carefully and securely rest the lid on them. This creates a small air vent that allows excess steam to escape so it won't condense back onto the egg mixture.

So how did my steamed egg turn out? Quite alright, not bad for a first try. The only thing not satisfactory was that it needed a bit more seasoning. Other than that, I was very pleased. Like I said before, I do love my eggs!!

Three Color Steamed Egg

Recipe source : A Taste of Home (Page 68)

(My notes and adaptations in red)

Ingredients :

- 5 eggs (I used 3 eggs)

- 2 salted egg yolks

- 2 century eggs

- 2 Japanese bean curd (I used only one)

- pepper

- chicken stock  (I used 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce)

- 1/2 tsp cooking wine (I used 1 tablspooon)

- 200ml warm water (I measured the water using the eggshell method, i.e. for each egg, fill one half of the eggshell three times with water)

Garnishing :

- spring onions

- fried shallot oil (I used fried garlic oil)

- 2 tbsp light soya sauce

Method :

1. Cut Japanese bean curd into slices and arrange at the bottom of the steaming platter.

2. Cut salted egg yolks and century eggs into small pieces. Arrange on top of bean curd.

3. In a bowl, beat the chicken eggs. Add seasoning and water, mix well.

4. Pour into the steaming platter.

5. Place platter into steamer and steam for 12 minutes (it may take longer, you need to check)

6. When the egg is set, remove from steamer and add garnishing.

7. Serve immediately.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out