Instant Pot Chawanmushi 茶碗蒸し

Chawanmushi 茶碗蒸し

Chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し) is a Japanese steamed egg custard. A savory custard made of eggs, dashi (stock), seasonings, and fillings.

This Japanese steamed egg is like Chinese Steamed Eggs (蒸水蛋), or somewhat like the sweet version HK-Style Egg Custard.

It may be a simple dish. But the egg custard is gently steamed until just set to achieve a delicate, melt-in-the-mouth, silky-smooth texture. So satisfying to eat.

That’s why it continues to be a classic Japanese favorite!

You may find restaurants serving tasty variations like Sea Urchin Uni Chawanmushi, Crab Chawanmushi, Ikura Chawanmushi, or Yuzu Chawanmushi.

Experiment: Instant Pot Chawanmushi

The egg-to-dashi ratio, cooking time, and filling ingredients are the most important factors for making perfectly cooked chawanmushi. 

Chawanmushi usually Fails to Cook in a Few Ways:

• Too watery: this means it’s undercooked, wrong egg-to-dashi ratio, too much liquid 
• Not Smooth, Firm, Lumpy, Rubbery, Crumbly: this means it’s overcooked, too many air bubbles, too many eggs, didn’t strain the egg mixture through a strainer, containers aren’t covered
• Bland: bland fillings, not enough eggs, not enough dashi, too much water, not enough seasonings

Chawanmushi Experiment Method

• Pressure Cooker: Instant Pot Pressure Cooker (6qt)
• Altitude: close to sea level
• Pressure: Low Pressure (5.8 ~7.2 psi)
• Cooking Method: covered ramekins on a steamer rack

Chawanmushi Cooking Time Test Results

Instant Pot Chawanmushi Experiment Findings

Containers: We tested 2 types of Japanese chawanmushi cups and regular 6 oz ramekins. They’re made of different materials, thicknesses, and height. They all worked well with this Chawanmushi Instant Pot recipe.

Covers: We tested using Chawamushi Cup Lids, Aluminum Foil, and Plastic Food Wraps to cover the cups or ramekins. They all worked fine.

Fillings: We tested adding thinly sliced ingredients (chicken, pork shoulder, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, narutomaki), chopped peeled shrimp, boiled vegetables, edamame, and imitation crab meat to the chawanmushi. They’re all cooked within the pressure cooking + natural release time.

Seasonings: We tested using different soy sauces. Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce brought out the egg-dashi-umami flavors much more than a less umami soy sauce. It made quite a difference in taste.

Egg-to-Dashi Ratios: We’re satisfied with the flavor ratio of 2 (~120ml) extra large eggs + 1 cup (250ml) dashi stock.

Dashi Powder-to-Water Ratios: We tested using 1.5g Instant Dashi Powder + 1 cup (250ml) cold water, and 2g Instant Dashi Powder + 1 cup (250ml) cold water. 

• Amount of Dashi: Use more dashi powder when adding more strong-flavored fillings or more fillings; use less dashi powder when adding fewer fillings or mild-flavored fillings.

How to Make Chawanmushi in Instant Pot

Here are the ingredients for making the Chawanmushi Instant Pot recipe:

Eggs. We developed this Instant Pot Chawanmushi recipe with extra large eggs. If you’re using other sizes, adjust accordingly to the volume.

Dashi (だし, 出汁) – Homemade Dashi Stock vs. Instant Dashi Powder

• Homemade Dashi Stock: Elevate the flavors by making dashi stock from scratch. It’s quite easy! 
• Instant Dashi Powder – Time-saving way to make a quick dashi stock with dashi powder and cold water. The Japanese steamed egg will still be tasty.

Seasoning

Soy Sauce. Different brands or bottles of the same brand of soy sauce can vary in their sodium levels, tartness, aroma, texture, and taste. Make sure to taste and adjust the amount accordingly.

Mirin (味醂 or みりん). It’s a type of Japanese sweet cooking rice wine. If you can, try to use Hon Mirin instead of Aji-Mirin (a substitute for real mirin) for better flavors.

Sake (Optional). Gekkeikan sake is decent enough to consume as a warm drink and cheap enough to use for cooking.

• Substitute: Shaoxing wine, dry sherry wine, or omit it for this chawanmushi Instant Pot recipe.

Roasted sesame oil. It’ll impart a mild hint of sesame aroma and flavor to the Japanese savory egg custard.

Fillings (Pick & Choose Your Favorites)

• Shrimp
• Thinly sliced chicken or pork shoulder (“hot pot”-thin sliced meat)
• Thinly sliced carrots
• Boiled vegetables
• Edamame
• Imitation crab meat
• Shiitake mushrooms, Shimeji mushrooms, or other types of mushrooms
• Kamaboko (Japanese fish cake), Narutomaki

Tools for Chawanmushi Instant Pot Recipe

• Instant Pot Pressure Cooker (6qt)
• Pyrex Glass Measuring Cup
• Japanese Chawanmushi Cup or 6 oz Ramekins
• Fine Mesh Strainer
• Aluminum Foil or Food Wraps (if you don’t have ramekin lids)
• Optional: Food Thermometer – if including meat or seafood 

Prepare Egg Mixture

In a 2 or 4 cups glass measuring cup, beat 2 extra large eggs until the egg yolks and egg whites fully blend.

Continue to mix the egg mixture as you add ¼ teaspoon (2g) fine sea salt, 1 teaspoon (5ml) regular soy sauce, 1 teaspoon (5ml) mirin, 1 teaspoon (5ml) sake, 2 drops of roasted sesame oil, and 1 cup (250ml) dashi stock to the well-beaten egg mixture. Make sure to mix it really well.

Add Fillings & Filter Egg Mixture

Place chopped filling ingredients in the bottom of the ramekins. Put the raw meat and seafood at the bottom so they’ll be the closest to the steaming hot water.

Gently pour the dashi egg mixture into chawanmushi cups through a mesh strainer until 80% full. Try to avoid forming air bubbles.

Tap the ramekins against the counter 10 times to remove any air bubbles. This helps make your chawanmushi more silky smooth.

Cover the ramekins with lids, aluminum foil, or food wraps.

Pressure Cook Chawanmushi

Add 1 cup (250ml) cold water in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker.

Place the trivet in Instant Pot, then place the ramekins on the trivet. It will be a tight fit.

Close lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing position.

Instant Pot Chawanmushi Cook Time: Pressure Cook chawanmushi at Low Pressure for 1 minute, then Natural Release for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, release the remaining pressure (if any) by turning the Venting Knob to Venting position.

Carefully open the lid.

Check Doneness & Serve Instant Pot Chawanmushi

Insert a food thermometer into the Japanese savory egg custard, and make sure the meat (if using) is above 160°F.

Serve this Japanese savory egg custard hot, warm, or cold.

What to Serve with Chawanmushi

Enjoy Japanese Chawanmushi as an appetizer to complement a main dish, a starter in an Omakase meal, or a side dish in Teishoku (Japanese meal sets). You can also serve Japanese steamed egg for breakfast, a snack, or a light main course.

Here are some tasty Japanese recipes to serve with Instant Pot Chawanmushi:

Japanese Appetizers, Side Dishes, Soups

• Miso Soup
• Udon Soup
• Kabocha Squash Rice
• Instant Pot Sushi Rice
• Japanese Rice Porridge (Okayu)

Japanese Main Dishes

• Japanese Chicken Curry or Japanese Beef Curry
• Gyudon (Japanese Beef Bowl)
• Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
• California Roll
• Ginger Pork Shogayaki
• Oden (Japanese Fish Cake Stew)
• Instant Pot Shrimp Risotto
• Katsu Curry (Japanese Curry with Tonkatsu)

Enjoy Melt-in-the-Mouth Instant Pot Chawanmushi!

More Instant Pot Egg Recipes

• Ramen Egg (Japanese Soft Boiled Egg)
• Soy Sauce Eggs
• Chinese Tea Eggs
• Korean Sauna Eggs
• Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs
• Instant Pot Egg Bites