Green Tea Chawan-Mushi (Savory Egg Custard) with Shrimp, Mushroom & Matcha Salt (& a Giveaway!) for #InspiredbyNature #TastyParTEA

Although I spent years working with, learning about, and drinking plenty of coffee, tea holds the bigger place in my heart. I love the variety--black, green, white, oolong, herbal... I love how versatile it is both to drink and to cook with, and the whole ritual of brewing--whether steeping the leaves in a tea pot, cold brewing a pitcher of iced tea, or simply popping a teabag in a cup and waiting for the magic to happen. Given my tea love, when I had the opportunity to join my friend Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla and some fellow food bloggers in a #TastyParTEA event, cooking tea-filled dishes and featuring the pretty teaware from the Inspired by Nature collection from Charles Viancin, I quickly jumped on board.
 

As a bonus for any tea-loving soul, as part of participating in the event I received some fantastic gifts from our sponsors; a lovely Charles Viancin Inspired by Nature Poppy teapot with a matching Poppy mug and a Camellia tea magnet/infuser set, and from Republic of Tea, their Organic Immunity SuperGreen Tea.

I love the bright colors of the poppies on the teapot and mug but I quickly became most enamored with the magnet/tea infuser set which is fun to use as you put the tea in the infuser, pop the top on, and steep it in the mug. Once it has steeped to your preference, you use the magnet on the bottom of the camellia stem to lift the infuser out of the liquid. I attempted to show how it works in the collage below using one of my favorite loose teas, a Hazelnut Honeybush herbal tea. (You can enter to win one of 12 tea mug and magnet/tea infuser sets at the end of this post!)

OK, although I could play with my teaware for hours, let's move on to my dish... 

If you check out the tea label on my sidebar, you will find over 60 posts with reviews of tea, various tea drinks, and both sweet and savory food recipes using tea as an ingredient. For this event I definitely wanted to go savory. Lately I have been craving Chawan-Mushi, a classic Japanese savory egg custard, traditionally steamed and served in Japanese tea cups. I have a nearby Japanese restaurant that makes a good one that they include in some of their combination meals--sometimes I go more to get it than tempura or sushi rolls. ;-) I have made it at home before before (here's an example) and there are lots of different recipes around, but I had not seen any with tea as a key ingredient in the custard.

I decided to create a chawan-mushi that both infused green tea into the egg and dashi mixture and was also topped with a sprinkling of matcha salt. I wanted to cook with the Organic Immunity SuperGreen Tea  that I received from The Republic of Tea, thinking that the it's citrus-floral profile would add umami to the flavor of my custards. 

Green Tea Chawan-Mushi (Savory Egg Custard) with Shrimp, Mushroom & Matcha Salt
By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
(Makes 4 Servings)

2 1/4 cups of water
2-3 green tea bags or 1 heaping Tbsp matcha powder-see Notes/Results below 
2 tsp instant dashi powder (I used a shrimp-flavored dashi powder)
4 large eggs
about 6 oz cooked medium shrimp, chopped into small pieces, reserving 2 shrimp to garnish
3 oz enoki mushrooms, stems trimmed down to fit in bowl, separated
2 tsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp green onion tops, finely chopped or shredded
Matcha Salt to garnish--see recipe below

Place the water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Add tea bags, cover and remove from heat. Allow tea to steep about 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and whisk in dashi powder. Strain to remove any sediment and allow mixture to cool to lukewarm.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, gently stir the eggs with chopsticks until blended, trying not to incorporate very much air. Once it has cooled (so as not to cook or curdle the eggs), gently stir in the green tea dashi liquid and strain the mixture into a measuring cup or cup with a pour spout.

Mix the shrimp, about 2/3 of the mushrooms and soy sauce together. Divide the shrimp and mushroom mixture between 4 shallow 1-cup bowls or teacups. Top each bowl with the egg mixture and wrap each bowl in plastic.  

In a pot with a steamer basket, bring some water to a boil. Turn down the heat and place the dishes in the steamer. Cover with a tea towel and then with the lid, and steam for 12-15 minutes until cooked. The custard should be set and firm to the touch--although "jiggly" in the middle. (You can slide a toothpick into the center and it should come out clean.)

Slice the 2 reserved cooked shrimp in half. Unwrap the custards. Top with the chopped scallions, reserved enoki mushrooms, and one 1/2 shrimp, lightly sprinkle with the matcha salt and serve immediately. Or, if not eating right away, leave the custards wrapped and transfer the bowls to the refrigerator to chill for at least 3 hours. Top with the chopped scallions, reserved enoki mushrooms and lightly sprinkle with the matcha salt before serving. 

Matcha Flavored Salt 
Adapted from The Breakaway Cook by Eric Gower
(Makes about 1/4 cup) 

Stir together 1/4 cup coarse sea salt and 1 teaspoon powdered matcha green tea. Whirl in the blender or food processor for a finer grind. Store in a bowl or small glass jar. 

(Note: Sometimes I just mix the matcha with a finer, kosher salt--using the same proportions).

Notes/Results: Flavor and texture-wise, these custards were spot on--the grassy, floral and citrus notes of the Organic Immunity SuperGreen tea complimenting the savory dashi and egg flavor and the texture was light and delicate. The one thing that didn't work quite so well was the color. I was thinking they would be a pale green (more like these green tea creams I made with matcha), but the color instead was sort of a tan/beige mix and not quite as pretty as I imagined. Luckily the toppings cover most of it but I think I would try using matcha instead of green tea bags when I make them again and see how the color turns out. The taste definitely made up for the color challenges though and the matcha salt really brought out the flavor. (It's also delicious on eggs--especially these Matcha-Poached Eggs!) Chawan-Mushi is a great snack or starter or side dish for a Japanese dinner and adjusting the color with matcha I would happily make them again. 

I'm linking this post up to the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

#TastyParTEA Event Details & Giveaway!

A baker's dozen bloggers have come together to share different recipes that use tea during the month of November. Whether you're a fan of sweet or savory #TastyParTEA's creations will make your mouth water.

See all the posts on our Facebook page, check out the pins on our Pinterest board, or follow the conversation on social media with hashtag #TastyParTEA.

We Are the #TastyParTEA Bloggers...

listed alphabetically by blog name

A Day in the Life on the Farm

A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
Amy's Cooking Adventures

Café Terra Blog

Cookaholic Wife

Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Famished Fish, Finicky Shark

Jane's Adventures in Dinner
Kahakai Kitchen

Making Miracles
Our Good Life

The Gluttonous Geek

Things I Make (for Dinner)

Our Blog Tour Schedule...

The Giveaway...

Our generous sponsors have contributed prizes for this event.

The giveaway will begin on November 12th and end on November 21st
and is open to US residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Our Sponsors*...

and how you can find them around the internet

Charles Viancin

on the web, on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram, on Pinterest

The Republic of Tea

on the web, on Twitter, on Facebook, on Pinterest, on Instagram

*Disclosure: Bloggers received complimentary products from sponsors for the creation of this event. This is a sponsored post that contains affiliate links.

Although this post is sponsored, all opinions are our own.*