Gyeranjjim is Korea’s steamed egg dish, and this version stretches the eggs with silken tofu and a spoonful of cream so the result is closer to a savory custard than a fluffy omelet. Blended smooth and steamed gently, it sets into something soft enough to eat with a spoon.
Because it is barely seasoned and very soft, this particular version shows up as a side dish for small children and for anyone who needs gentle food — but it works just as well on a regular table, next to rice and a soup. The cocktail shrimp and minced spinach on top give it a little color and a bit of chew.
The whole thing takes one blender, one bowl, and ten minutes in a steamer, which makes it a good side dish to start when the rest of dinner is already underway.
Ingredients
- 75g soft silken tofu (about 1/3 cup, 3/4 of a tofu block)
- 20g cocktail shrimp (about 5 shrimp)
- 30g egg (1/2 egg, about 2 tablespoons beaten)
- 13g heavy cream (1 tablespoon)
- 5g sugar (1 teaspoon)
- 5g unsalted butter (1 teaspoon)
- 10g spinach (3 stems)
Instructions
- Blanch the cleaned shrimp in boiling water, then lift them out and drain.
- Put the silken tofu, egg, heavy cream, sugar, and the melted unsalted butter into a blender and blend smooth, then stir in the shrimp from step 1 and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl.
- Finely mince the spinach, scatter it over the bowl of blended mixture from step 2, set the bowl in a steamer, and steam over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
Tips & Variations
Finding the ingredients. Look for silken or soft tofu (yeondubu) in a tub or tube at any Korean or Asian market — it is much softer than the “soft” block tofu sold in US supermarkets, and that softness is the whole point. Cocktail shrimp are the small pre-peeled ones; frozen small shrimp work fine, just thaw and pat dry before blanching.
- Melt the butter first. Cold butter will leave specks in the blender instead of blending in. Melt it, then let it cool slightly so it does not start cooking the egg.
- Keep the heat medium, not high. A hard boil in the steamer makes the custard puff up and then collapse with holes in it. Medium heat gives a smooth, even set.
- Cover the bowl if water drips. A layer of foil or a plate over the bowl keeps condensation from the steamer lid out of the custard.
- Check with a toothpick. At 10 minutes it should come out mostly clean. Shallow bowls set faster than deep ones, so start checking early.
- Substitutions. Half-and-half or whole milk can stand in for the heavy cream, though the texture will be slightly less rich. Spinach can be swapped for finely minced zucchini skin, chives, or carrot if you want a different color.
- If you are making this for a baby, you can leave out the sugar entirely — the tofu and shrimp already carry the flavor.
Nutrition
- Calories: 220 kcal
- Carbohydrates: 3 g
- Protein: 14 g
- Fat: 17 g
- Sodium: 99 mg