Chawanmushi is a Japanese savory egg custard filled with colorful ingredients and steamed in a cup. There are many variations of this traditional Japanese appetizer, and restaurants in Japan usually include seasonal ingredients. In today’s recipe, I use one of the most sought-after autumn delicacies of all—matsutake mushroom. In Japan, we typically enjoy matsutake in a soup or rice dish. Matsutake Chawanmushi is another fantastic way to enjoy this special ingredient with its unique essence and taste.
What is Matsutake?
As I mentioned in my Matsutake Gohan post, matsutake (pine mushroom) is prized by the Japanese for its distinct aromatic odor and flavor. Its place in Japanese cuisine is very similar to that of black and white truffles for the French. In Japan, top-quality domestic matsutake can sell for as much as $1,000 per pound. Supermarkets sell imported matsutake for less, but people still try to buy domestically as long as the price is not too expensive. Here in the US, we can find fresh US-grown matsutake mushrooms at a nearby Japanese supermarket for about $40 per pound. I hope that you can find this delicious delicacy and try it for yourself!
Ingredients You’ll Need
matsutake mushroom — it replaces the shiitake mushroom that’s typically used shrimp — you can substitute chicken thigh large egg narutomaki (fish cakes) — or use slices of kamaboko (fish cake) sake — for marinating the shrimp ginkgo nuts — optional mitsuba — optional dashi stock — use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet, or Vegan Dashi for this Japanese stock; use dashi powder in a pinch; I don’t recommend vegetable stock or chicken stock as substitutes mirin usukuchi soy sauce — this light-colored Japanese soy sauce keeps the custard from become a dark color kosher salt
How to Make Matsutake Chawanmushi
Chawanmushi literary means “steamed in a tea bowl/cup.” Aside from the cups, you won’t need any special equipment to prepare this recipe: Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
