It has been a while since I last had this dish. My mum used to make this for lunch at home and we would eat it together with a hot bowl of porridge (congee). Actually, I never did like it when I was little, but as I grew up, I slowly learnt to appreciate and enjoy the rich and creamy taste of of the salted egg yolks against the soft and silky egg custard. However, whenever I go back home to visit and ask my mum to cook this, she refuses to for the pure reason that it's TOO SIMPLE! :)
I decided to make this for dinner because firstly, it's easy to prepare, and secondly, I had some duck's eggs leftover from the other day when I cooked the crab. Most of the time, when I cook steamed egg, I would use one egg with 1/2 cup water, seasoned, and place it in a small bowl which I would then pop into the rice cooker on top of the rice, about 15 minutes just before the timer for the rice goes off. It will come out perfectly set and dear H will be the one who finishes the whole bowl. It's also a good way to help "moisten" the rice especially when there's no gravy or sauce in the other dishes. Well, this time, I used 3 eggs, so I had to steam it in a wok instead, but over very low heat. The water should be just simmering, otherwise the eggs will overcook and you'd end up with dry and hard "honeycombed" eggs instead.
Here is the recipe, which I have sort of conjured up based on memory:
Steamed Egg Custard with Pork and Salted Egg Yolk
Ingredients
3 tbsp minced pork
2 salted duck's eggs, boiled and yolks removed and chopped
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cup water
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
Dash of pepper
1 tbsp vegetable/peanut oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Some chopped spring onions or frozen mixed vegetables for topping (optional)
Marinade:
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
Dash of pepper
1/8 tsp sesame oil
Method
Combine pork with marinade and leave for 20 minutes.
Fry garlic in 1 tbsp oil until garlic turns light brown and crisp. Dish out and put aside.
Combine beaten eggs with water, soy, salt, pepper and stir until well mixed. Pour into a steaming tray or glass pie dish. Take 3 tbsp of this mixture and stir it through the pork until the mince is well dispersed. Add this to the rest of the egg mixture and spread the mince evenly. Sprinkle with salted egg yolk. Steam over simmering water on low heat for 15 minutes or until egg is just set. Take care not to overcook. If frozen vegetables are used, add this to the egg just before it completely sets and continue to steam until cooked. Remove from steamer and drizzle the garlic oil over the egg. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.
