Chinese Steamed Egg Custard in Instant Pot

This classic Chinese steamed egg custard is comforting, nourishing and delicious. Super easy to make and especially convenient to cook in the Instant Pot. Stove top method is also included.

Course Appetizer, Breakfast

Cuisine Chinese

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings bowl

Calories 217kcal

Author Yang

Cost $2

Equipment

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup filtered water and more for pressure cooking
1 tsp freshly grated ginger (optional)
2 tsp sesame oil
4 tsp naturally-brewed tamari soy sauce
2 tsp green onion, finely chopped (optional)

Instructions

Crack the eggs into a heat-resistent bowl.
Add water into the bowl.
Beat the eggs and water until homogenous.
Use a fine mesh skimmer to filter out air bubbles from the liquid.
Grate fresh ginger into the beaten eggs. If you don't like ginger, you can skip this step.
Fill the inner pot of Instant Pot with 2 cups of water. Place a trivet into the inner pot. Place the bowl on the trivet.
Place the lid on the Instant Pot. Close the pressure valve.
Select the "steam" program, set it to high pressure for 5 minutes.
When Instant Pot finishes cooking, allow natural pressure release for 10 minutes. If pressure is not fully released, open the pressure valve to let out rest of the pressure.
Open the lid and remove the bowl from the inner pot.
Drizzle with sesame oil and tamari.
Top the steamed egg custard with finely chopped green onions. If you don't like green onions, you can skip this step.

Notes

Stove Top Method: The work flow to prepare the eggs (steps 1-5, 11, 12) is exactly the same whether you cook the custard on the stove or in the Instant Pot. To cook on the stove, be sure to keep a close eye on the egg custard. Once the water start boiling in the steamer pot, steam the eggs for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the egg custard is cooked through. Use a pair of chopsticks to test if the centre of the custard has turned solid.
Silky Smooth Egg Custard: When filtering the liquid eggs (step 4), try to pick up air bubbles trapped in the beaten eggs, not just the ones floating on top. This step makes the finished custard silky smooth. In addition, you can also prepare the beaten eggs in advance (up to step 5). Keep the bowl covered in the fridge until you are ready to cook the eggs. Letting the beaten eggs settle will also produce more silky custard in the end.

Nutrition