Turning to my Japanese heritage, I want to share with you one of my favorite Japanese savory dishes, Chawanmushi with Plantin Truffle Juice. I’ve mentioned before that while Japanese food was a cornerstone of my childhood experiences and really shaped my decision to become a chef out of high school, I went on to become trained in French cuisine. Only more recently did I turn more intent focus on honing my skills in Japanese cuisine. I’ve been working more on perfecting dishes like sukiyaki, sushi, and dumplings.

Maybe you already love chawanmushi or maybe this is the first time you’ve heard of it. If you’re unfamiliar, chawanmushi is a savory egg custard that’s traditionally flavored with soy sauce, dashi, and mirin. Chawanmushi is aromatic, the taste is a balance of sweet and salty, and it has a nice smooth texture. It can be prepared and enjoyed plain or often you’ll see it on Japanese menus with added ingredients such as shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, kamaboko (white fish pounded into paste), chicken, shitake mushrooms, etc. Chawanmushi is a versatile dish.

Recently, I was invited to a tasting at Plantin | Kaviari and I was introduced to their black truffle sauce. When I tasted it, I immediately thought that its earthy and salty notes would compliment Japanese cuisine very well. As you know, eggs and truffle pair really well together (try this recipe: scrambled eggs with truffle ). Chawanmushi with truffle juice immediately stood out to me as a great combo. So, today I am sharing with you my recipes for Chawanmushi with Plantin Truffle Juice.

***Note: While many of us are in quarantine/lockdown getting your hands on truffle juice may be difficult at this time. You can still make this recipe, I include the substitution for truffle juice below.

If you would like to, you can also add shrimp or mushrooms and so on. Simply follow the instructions as is. When your chawanmushi is about half way done through cooking, add your solid ingredients. If you add your solid ingredients in the beginning they will sink to the bottom of your custard rather than cook into it. Recipe and instructional video below. Enjoy!

Chawanmushi Ingredients:

• 3 Eggs (Room Temperature)

• 1 and 1/2 Cups Dashi(made by using 1 1/2 cups warm water and 1 1/4t. instant dashi powder)

• 1/2 Cup Truffle Juice (if you do not have truffle juice, substitute with an additional 1/2 cup warm water and a 1/4 teaspoon dashi powder)
  **Whether using truffle juice and dashi or just dashi you need a total of 2 cups of liquid. **

• 2 teaspoons mirin (sweet rice wine)

• 1/4 teaspoon salt