Silky steamed egg custard

Steamed egg custard is a very popular cuisine in China. With seafood, mushroom or other ingredients combined, it is a tasty entrée; and if sugar, honey, vanilla or other sweetening is added, it can be a yummy dessert. In addition, this custard can soothe the throat and comfort the stomach and therefore, it is commonly used as a nutritional diet to stimulate patients' appetite.

It is not a hard job to cook this custard; however, to obtain a silky custard with flat and shiny surface (no any bubble) does need some tips.

Let's cook the basic custard step by step.

1. Heat 150 mL water in microwave oven for 40 minutes to obtain hot water;

2. Add two whole eggs and 1 tsp rum or Chinese cooking wine, whisk well;

3. Add 100 mL milk and 190 mL water (this time, not hot water, just water at room temperature), whisk well;

4. Strain the mixture through a sieve to a steam-safe container. If there is still some tiny foam floating on the surface of the filtrate, take it away with a flat spoon;

5. Bring the water in steam cooker to boil;

6. Add some salt or sugar for taste, stir gently and then cover the container. Transfer it into steam cooker (Caution: Hot steam, use glove to protect from burnt);

7. Steam at medium power for 12 minutes.

For entrée, serve immediately; for dessert, chill before serving.