How to Make Silky Chinese Steamed Eggs in the Instant Pot

These Chinese steamed eggs made in an Instant Pot are a great way to add variety to your diet and switch things up if you are bored of plain poached eggs for breakfast. They are a frequent weekly rotation in our house because of how fast and straightforward it is to make!

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The eggs are silky, delicate, and delicious taste almost identical to Chinese steamed eggs made in a traditional steamer. However, you may need to experiment with the cooking time depending on your pressure cooker settings.

Chinese Steamed Eggs in the Instant Pot

With minimal additional ingredients and short cooking time, it’s an excellent dish to make midweek to increase your daily protein. 

These silky steamed eggs also be known as water eggs or egg custard because of the slippery smooth texture.

Chinese steamed eggs are a traditional recipe loved by many people across China. However, the specific recipes may vary between provinces within the country. 

They are typically made in a bamboo steamer or specially made steaming pot. However, you can make these unique breakfast eggs in an Instant Pot.

Tips to Keep in Mind

• As mentioned in the step-by-step, you should always aim for an egg to water ratio should be 1:2 to achieve the desired custard-like consistency. 
• I recommended topping your Chinese steamed eggs with chives, chili oil, tamari, sesame oil, and white pepper. Still, you could also serve these eggs with prawns, asparagus, or carrots for some additional nutrition and flavor. 
• You must use a fine-mesh strainer to achieve that silky smooth egg texture.

Vegetarian and Gluten-Free Ingredient Alternatives

Suppose you are vegetarian and don’t eat meat or fish. You can swap the chicken broth for vegetable stock and use vegetarian fish sauce or mushroom oyster sauce instead of regular fish sauce. 

Although this won’t have the same flavor as the recipe, it will be a decent dupe that you can make as a vegetarian.

All you need to do to ensure these Chinese steamed eggs are gluten-free is to use gluten-free chicken stock. 

Silky Chinese Steamed Eggs Recipe

Ingredients

Servings: 2

• 2 large eggs (approximately 1/3 cup)
• 2/3 cups chicken broth (this may change depending on the volume of your eggs; egg water ratio should be 1:2)
• 1/2 tbsp red boat fish sauce
• garnish with chives (finely chopped), 1/2 tsp tamari (gluten-free soy sauce), 1/4 tsp sesame oil, white pepper (to taste)
• (optional) chili oil for topping
• serve with rice

Kitchen Tools

• Instant Pot
• Measuring cup
• Sieve
• Cling film

How to Make Silky Chinese Steamed Eggs (Step-by-Step)

Step 1. Prep the Egg

Pour the beaten egg into a fine-mesh strainer in a measuring cup. This step is super important to create that smooth, custardy texture. Note how much egg was in the measuring cup (this recipe assumes that we have about 1/3 cup of beaten eggs).

In a 1:2 ratio, add 2/3 cups chicken broth to the mixture. Add the fish sauce and stir gently to mix all the ingredients. Then wrap the bowl tightly with cling film.

Step 2. Prepare in Instant Pot and Cook

Add 1 cup of water to the Instant Pot container. Since I don’t have steam rack handles for the Instant Pot (which I recommend!), I used a trivet and foil to help me remove the hot bowl once it’s done steaming.

Place the bowl on the wire rack and fold the foil handle. Set the Instant Pot to Manual Low Pressure on Normal for 12 minutes.

Step 3. Finish Off with Sauce and Garnish

Once the Instant Pot beeps, release the pressure and carefully remove the bowl.

Removing the cling film will leave you with a silky, smooth egg texture.

Complete this dish by adding tamari, sesame oil, white pepper, and chives. Serve with rice and eat right away.

Related: Chinese Tomato and Eggs Stir-Fry

FAQ

1. How long does steaming an egg take? Typically you will need to steam for around 6 minutes for a soft-boiled egg or 12 minutes if you desire a boiled egg. In the case of making Chinese steamed eggs, you need to cook them for 12 minutes on a low-pressure setting in your Instant Pot.
2. Can you steam a raw egg? Yes! The eggs will be cooked entirely in the Instant Pot from raw. 
3. Is steamed egg healthy? Of course! A Chinese steam egg is not only tasty but good for you. Eggs contain several vitamins, including B12, B2, A, B5, and Selenium, and a large egg contains around 6g of protein. In addition, this recipe doesn’t need oil to cook the egg, and they are just as healthy as a boiled egg!

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and star rating below! I’d love to hear from you.