Chinese Steamed Eggs 蒸水蛋
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Easy and foolproof recipe to make this silky smooth and soft Chinese steamed egg dish aka 蒸水蛋 in Chinese, which only requires only 3 ingredients and 20 minutes!
Eggs are one of the most basic yet versatile ingredients you’ll ever find.
Additionally, they are still accessible and relatively cheap, making them one of my top ingredients during the COVID lockdown!
In the next few posts, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite egg recipes ranging from appetizer to desserts. If you are looking for easy and delicious egg dishes (you know you are), please make sure you subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss any of the new recipes.
To kick off this egg feast, I’d like to start with one of my all-time favorite: Chinese steamed eggs aka 蒸水蛋 or simply 蒸蛋 in Chinese.
For the uninitiated, Chinese steamed eggs are one of the most basic home-style egg appetizer dishes made of eggs, water/broth plus some seasoning toppings.
By steaming the egg and water mixture, eggs are transformed into this soft and silky custard goodness that literally melts in your mouth and warms your heart – it’s truly a comfort food in Chinese culture.
This dish has many variations and exists in different cultures. You might also come across the Japanese version which is called Chawanmushi or the Korean version known as Gyeranjjim. But at the end of the day, they all share the same basic ingredients and cooking method.
The Chinese steamed egg recipe I am sharing today is rather basic but also 100% foolproof. If you follow the exact steps laid out in the recipe, I guarantee you’ll get that smooth, soft, silky texture at your first try!
Before we jump to the recipe, here are a few helpful tips to help you succeed in making the perfect steamed egg dish:
- The key to the texture of the egg custard is the water volume to egg volume ratio. For denser texture, use less water but no less than 1:1 ratio between water and egg. For lighter and smoother texture, use more water but no more than 2:1 between water and egg.
- Use warm water to mix with eggs. The perfect temperature is just a tad warmer than lukewarm.
- When steaming the egg mixture, keep the heat low after 3 minutes. Too much steam will make your egg custard less smooth.
- Once you master this basic recipe, feel free to be creative with the seasonings. Chili oil, shrimp, meat sauce are a few of my favorites.
Eeasy Chinese Steamed Eggs
Yield: 2 servings
Prep Time: 5
Cook Time: 15
Total Time: 20
Ingredients:
Egg Custard:
- 3 large eggs
- 2cup/300ml water (adjust water to egg ratio based on the volume of egg - see step 3)
Toppings:
- 1tbsp soy sauce
- 1tsp sesame oil
- chopped scallions (optional)
- chili oil (optional)
Directions:
Transfer the egg into a large bowl and beat until egg yolk and egg white are well incorporated.
Measure out warm water that's equivalent to 1.5x of egg volume from step 1 and transfer to the bowl and beat until the mixture is clear of any visible lumps.
Transfer the egg mixture to another bowl through a file mesh strainer. 
The mixture should largely free of small bubbles. Filter one more time if there are too many bubbles. Completely cover the bowl with a plate or food wrap.
Bring steamer to a boil, place the covered egg mixture in the steamer and let steam over medium heat for 5 minutes. Lower the heat to low and let steam for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep the lid on for another 1 minute.
Remove the cover and move the steamed egg out of the steamer. Add the toppings and serve it hot.
- The key to the texture of the egg custard is the water volume to egg volume ratio. For denser texture, use less water but no less than 1:1 ratio between water and egg. For lighter and smoother texture, use more water but no more than 2:1 between water and egg.
- Use warm water to mix with eggs. The perfect temperature is just a tad warmer than lukewarm.
- When steaming the egg mixture, keep the heat low after 3 minutes. Too much steam will make your egg custard less smooth.
- Once you master this basic recipe, feel free to be creative with the seasonings. Chili oil, shrimp, meat sauce are a few of my favorites.
What are your favorite egg recipes? Leave a common to let me know.
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Thanks for the Chinese steamed egg recipe.
http://www.fooddoz.com
, thank you for this wonderful easy recipes . Because I have a big family I need to make a much larger portion. Do I double and triple the time according to the amount of the recipe??? Please advise. Thank you in advance
hi Marie, thanks for checking out the recipe. You don’t need to double or triple the time. If you double the recipe, I’d steam 15 minutes after the initial 5 minutes. For triple amount, I’d steam for 18 minutes after the initial 5 minutes. Hope this helps.
Thanks so much for your quick reply. Stay safe.
My pleasure. Please let me know how the eggs came out!
I made this for breakfast this morning. It’s a nice and healthy alternative to fried eggs. Really nice recipe – thank you for sharing! Looking forward to the egg tarts! 🙂
hi There, I am glad that you enjoy this recipe. Yup egg tarts are coming shortly!
Just wanted to let you know that the egg tart recipe has been post. Hope you get to make this sometime.
My Dad used to make this when I was a kid. I think he also used a little pre-cooked mince meat as one of the ingredients. Not very sure, It was a long time ago. Thanks for bringing this back to my memory.
hi Vincent, thanks for sharing that with me. I’ll have to try the minced meat version soon!
Hi Yi
Thank you for sending me your steam egg recipe. I do like steam egg . Looking forward to your egg tar recipe like those from Dim sum restaurant.
By the way, do u have a trusted recipe for Asian fluffy sponge cake like those from Asian bakery?
Thanks for sharing.
Regards & stay safe.
hi there, yes an egg tart recipe is coming up (the basic version) so please stay tuned. I do have a good sponge cake recipe and will post it at some point soon. Thanks.
An old family favorite! My mom would also add either dried shrimp or dried scallops (expensive).
Hi Darlene, hope you are well. dried scallops sound wonderful. Yes they are expensive but also very flavorful and go well with everything!
Welcome back. This is such a funny coincidence. I am studying Qigong with Kevin Chen through Zoom and he recommended eating protein, particularly steamed eggs, for its quick assimibility and nutrition. I found some recipes on youtube, but I’ll always defer to yours. I’ve made it both sweet and savory.
Hi Ken, great to hear from you and hope you are well! Yeah these steamed eggs should be easily assimilated and packed with protein. Hope you get to try out the recipe!
I am 1st gen toisanese. Our family does steamed eggs with seasoned ground pork, which is apparently very common..
This looks interesting, delicious in fact, , but how would you eat it … with rice ?.
Do you have any recipe suggestions for JUST egg yolks ?
… I am using up all my egg whites in Whiskey Sours !!
hi Warren, thanks for sharing the seasoned ground pork idea. I definitely have seen that variation somewhere but I’ll need to try it myself next time. As for egg yolks, do you bake? If so you can try making this Pineapple bun or this snow skin moon cake which both require some yolks. Additionally, you can make salted egg yolks by salting the yolks and let the surface dry out. I don’t have a recipe but it’s pretty easy to do. Hope this helps.
So happy to see you back Yi!! I love this recipe, sometimes I use 2 eggs with water 1:1 and then add a cut up preserved duck egg and green onion for topping. I’m addicted to your ,milk bread to go with these eggs. Thanks for a delicious return!!’ Jan
Hi Jan, good to hear from you and thanks for your kind words. I have never had the egg dish with milk bread together but that sounds like a fun combination. Time for me to make some milk bread to test it out 🙂
Hi, Hello Mr. Yi
how are you doing. Thank You so much sharing your wonderful delicious great recipes
they are awesome. love the way you show STEP BY STEP how to make them.
i will definitely try the steam eggs . and the spicy chill oil
I was try to make the chinese bun ( Egg Tart 蛋撻) came out ok
Not the best. I hope you can show me the right way how to make it.
Thank you for all your best recipes.
Nancy Yee
Hi Nancy, glad that you mentioned egg tart – it’s going to be part of this egg recipe series so please stay tuned!
Really cool post. I’ve never had this dish — sounds really interesting, not to mention fun to make. And the color is gorgeous!
Thanks John. It is indeed a fun dish to make not to mention it’s really tasty too.
It turned out perfect. Really tender and smooth 🙂
Thanks Angie. Yes it came out very smooth.