Chinese Egg Custard Dessert

I've loved all different kinds of custards ever since I was little. When I was a child in Vietnam, my grandpa would always give me a piggyback ride to my English school and never failed to treat me to a custard sandwich along the way. Oh, how I miss those days! Life was simple and full of piggyback rides and sweets. I've never seen sandwiches like that in the U.S. When we came to U.S., my grandma started making me steamed egg custards when she cooked rice and I fell in love it that too. I got a steamer a couple weeks ago and I've been hooked on steamed egg custards ever since (Walmart's Mainstay 8 qt multi-purpose pot with a large and small steaming basket for $25, not available online). Just subtly sweet and so smooth. It's also so simple to make! Here's how...

Ingredients:

• 1.25 C of milk
• 3.5 tbs sugar (My family back in Vietnam uses a little bit of condensed milk instead, but I didn't have any around.)
• 2 eggs

Instructions:

• Heat the milk and sugar in a pot and stir constantly.
• Be sure that all the sugar has dissolved and remove from heat to cool.

• Once the milk has cooled, start boiling the water for the steamer.
• Break the eggs in a small bowl and beat well.
• Slowly pour the milk into the eggs and mix as you do so.

If you don't care about the presentation, start steaming per steps below.

I prefer my custard without the foam on top AND

without misc bits of egg that didn't mix well into milk (see in the image above)...

...so, I pour the egg/milk mixture back into the pot. Then, I pour it into the small bowl through a mesh strainer.

Steaming:

• Place the bowl into the steamer basket when the water is ready.
• Cover it with a plate and steam at medium heat for about 15 mins.
• The longer it cooks, the firmer and less smooth it gets.

I got distracted and steamed it for a couple minutes longer than I should have.

It was still pretty smooth, but just firmer than I prefer. Still loved it though!