You’ve had fried eggs, boiled eggs, poached eggs and scrambled eggs. However, there is one more way that the Chinese love to eat eggs and that is steamed. This is perfect for an alternative breakfast and was a firm favourite of my grandmother when she was a child, especially after her tai chi exercises at 5am in the morning.
Go to Hong Kong today and you’ll still see women of all shapes and sizes and ages fill the parks and as if in a trance, began the swooping movements from left to right and top to bottom. My grandmother, Lily, was always amazed at how the beautiful and graceful movements of the whole group were so uniform, even without a firm leader. The worst part was having to transfer all the weight of her body onto one foot and stand there for what seemed like an eternity, trying to hold her balance and trying not to crack up laughing, as her sisters tried to poke her with their feet. The young sisters, despite being told all about the wonders of Tai Chi and the abilities to use just four ounces to move a thousand pounds, often looked forward to the end, when a breakfast of steamed savoury egg awaited them. Although their steamed egg was purely egg and spring onions, I have added to the recipe.
This recipe is one which my grandmother made for my mum, and my mum made for me. The best bit about this dish is drinking the juices from the steamed egg dish because it is so sweet and delicious. This dish is made mixing water and egg and steaming the mix to create a texture similar to silken tofu. The soft texture and saltiness of the chicken and prawns makes it perfect with steamed boiled rice.
Serves 2
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
100ml boiled and cooled water
100g cooked chicken, sliced into thin strips
6 raw king prawns, diced
1 spring onion, diced
1 tablespoon light soy sauce or tamari
Beat the egg, then add the salt and water and continue to beat until mixed thoroughly. Using cooled boiled water makes the egg smoother than using tap water. Pour into two ramekins. Then place the chicken and king prawns and spring onions into the beaten egg and evenly spread.
Heat a steamer and when there is steam place the ramekins in the steamer and cover with a lid. If you don’t have a steamer, you can use a wok filled with hot water. Set up a rack using a cake rack. Cover the wok with a secure lid. Steam the egg for 10 minutes on a medium heat and then check to see if the egg has cooked. If not continue for another 5 minutes.
When cooked, remove from the steamer and serve with the light soy sauce or tamari and a side of steamed rice.
To book a table at Sweet Mandarin email sweetmandarintables@gmail.com . Our opening times are Tuesday – Sunday 5-10pm.
Sweet Mandarin is a Chinese Restaurant in Manchester which serves delicious Chinese cuisine and exotic cocktails. We make our own sweet chilli sauce, bbq sauce, sweet & sour sauce which you can buy from Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Ocado, Booths, Wing Yip and Chi Yip. Sweet Mandarin Chinese Restaurant and Cookery Schoolcan cater for the gluten free, dairy free diners. We are a short 15 minute walk from the Manchester Arena. We are not based in Chinatown, but based in the trendy Northern Quarter near the Arndale Centre, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Debenhams and Primark. The nearest hotels to us are the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Express, Premier Apartments, Blue Rainbow Aparthotels, Light Hotel and Hatters Hostel.
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