My attempt to make chawanmushi

I enjoy teaching a lot.  In fact, I see myself doing it for the rest of my career life.  I love interacting with my students.  One of the greatest achievements for me is when a student says he or she has learned something new.  The amazing thing is that in the process of teaching, I learn something new too.  This leads me to my post for today.

I'm proud to say I learned how to make chawanmushi!I learned it from my Japanese student.  I teach her English while she teaches me how to make popular Japanese dishes the authentic way.  Sometimes she even prepares and cooks in front of the webcam which I think is really sweet. This also delighted me because my husband really loves Japanese cuisine and interestingly, one of his favorites is chawanmushi. While she tries to communicate how to cook the dishes in English, I sometimes correct some of her sentences and at the same time, take down notes of the process as well.  :)

I was surprised because it was really easy to prepare but very hard to cook.  After many attempts, I finally got it (I think).  I didn't have the traditional tea cups where the Japanese usually put it, so I simply used my own coffee cups. My husband loved it and so did I.  Even my in-laws thought so too and they were very excited for me to make more.  It was similar to the chawanmushi we order at our favorite Japanese restaurant.  The appearance was just a little darker because I used local soy sauce (a lot darker and saltier than Japanese soy sauce) but the consistency was just right (I think, hehe).

Because I was only practicing to get the consistency right, I did not add shitake mushrooms or shrimp yet.  I plan to buy some more ingredients soon. As of now, I am very satisfied with the outcome especially for a beginner like me. I know that there is still a lot of room for improvement and I am excited to make more! :)