Steam Egg Custard with Prawns & Scallions

Ingredients

    - 150g minced pork

    -  8 shrimps (deveined)

    - 1/2 tsp vegetable/olive oil

    - 1 carrot (but you’ll be only using some of it)

 A) For the egg custard mixture

    - 2 eggs

    - 3/4 cup water or stock

    - 1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine

    - 1/4 to 1/2 tsp light soy sauce (seasoning the egg mixture, use less soy sauce if using stock)

B) Marinade for the minced pork

    - 1/2 tsp soy sauce

    - 1/2 tsp sesame oil

    - 1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine

    - a bit of Chinese white pepper

    - 1/2 stalk spring onions, finely chopped (use the green upper part)

Directions

1) Using a vegetable peeler, shave some carrot slices, then stack the slices vertically, cut them to thin strips and then chop to smaller pieces to get finely chopped carrots.

2) Preparing the egg custard mixture:

Break the eggs into the bowl. To minimize bubbles, do not beat the eggs but gently stir the eggs with a pair of chopsticks using a cutting action. ii) Add the rest of the ingredients from (A) to the eggs mixture. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve.

3) Preparing the minced pork

i) Combine marinade (B) with minced pork and mix well. Leave for at least 10 minutes.

ii) Heat wok with a bit of oil, then stir fry the minced pork till they are no longer pink, breaking them to smaller bits using your spatula. Do not overcook.

iii) Arrange the stir-fried minced pork in a thin layer on a shallow dish. Then pour the stained egg mixture over gently. Top with some chopped carrots prepared in step 1. If you see any bubbles, “flatten” the surface gently with the back of a spoon.

4) Cover the dish with transparent food wrap or aluminum foil.

5) Steam the egg custard over high heat for about 15 mins. To test if the egg mixture is cooked, insert a bamboo stick into the mixture: if a little clear liquid comes out, it is cooked. Serve with warm rice.