Two Henanese Egg Dishes (砂锅凹鸡蛋/铁锅蛋)

Claypot Eggs and Iron Eggs, from the Henan Province

Claypot Eggs

Ingredients:

Note: If using store bought stock, halve the salt and cut out the chicken bouillon powder, as store bought stock is already pre-seasoned.

• Eggs, 4, ~250mL

• Stock, ~250mL

• Vinegar, ¼ tsp

• Seasoning for the stock:

  Salt, ½ tsp

  Chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉), ¼ tsp

  White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), ⅛ tsp

• Chopped cilantro, to finish

Process:

Crack four eggs and beat well, until no stray strands of egg white remain. Right before cooking, whisk in ¼ tsp vinegar.

In a claypot, bring 250mL of stock up to a boil and add in ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp chicken bouillon powder, and ⅛ tsp white pepper. Mix well. Make a 'whirlpool' motion with your chopsticks, then slowly start to drizzle in the beaten egg. Cover, lower the flame to medium-low. Cook for five minutes.

After that time, sprinkle over some chopped cilantro, according to your taste.

Iron Pot Eggs

Ingredients:

Note: if using a six inch cast iron skillet, halve the recipe. (For the eggs, use three if the eggs are large, four if they are medium eggs).

• Dried shiitake mushrooms (冬菇), 2

• Dried shrimp (虾米), 6

• Reserved soaking liquid, 200mL

• To season the mushroom/shrimp:

  Soy sauce (生抽), ½ tsp

  Sugar, ⅛ tsp

• Eggs, 7

• To season the eggs:

  Salt, ½ tsp

  Sugar, ¼ tsp

  White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/16 tsp

  Reserved mushroom/shrimp soaking liquid, 200mL

• Lard, preferably, or oil, 1.5 tbsp. For frying.

• Dark Chinese vinegar (香醋/陈醋), ~½ tsp

• Cilantro, chopped, to finish

Process:

Reconstitute two dried shiitake mushrooms and six dried shrimp in roughly one cup of cool water for at least three hours. Overnight is also ok.

Squeeze any liquid out of the mushrooms, and snip off the stems (discard, or reserve for stock). Reserve 200mL of the soaking liquid - we will be adding this to the eggs.

Get both the mushrooms and the shrimp into a dice. Fry the mushrooms and the shrimp for ~3 minutes over a medium flame until cooked through, then season with ½ tsp soy sauce and the ⅛ tsp sugar. Reserve.

Add the reserved soaking liquid to the eggs, together with ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp sugar, and 1/16 tsp white pepper powder. Beat well until no stray strands of egg white remain.

To fry the egg, over a high flame melt about a tablespoon and a half of lard and give it a swirl. Add one third of the egg mixture. Once the edges have set a touch, scrape to the center ala an omelet. Add in the next third, and repeat the process. Add in the final third, repeat, and then add in the fried mushrooms and the shrimp. If you would like to add anything else to the egg, this is when you would do it.

Move the egg into a pre-heated 230C oven on an upper rack. Bake for 12 minutes.

After that time, optionally drizzle in ½ tsp of vinegar around the edges for a touch of fragrance. Top with cilantro.