Spice It Up: Steamed Egg Pudding

By Maggie Sun, Dietetic Intern

The aromatic steamed egg pudding from northern China is a popular family dish that can be served during any meal of the day as an appetizer or main dish. Unlike most egg pudding, the steamed egg pudding is a savory dish. But this recipe keeps the same silky mouthfeel as any pudding and hence is good for patients with difficulties chewing and swallowing due to its smoothness. The recipe is also high in protein, which is beneficial for managing weight loss associated with cancer or cancer treatment [i]. The addition of sesame oil also adds to the overall calorie of this recipe. The recipe is dairy-free and can be consumed by ovo-vegetarians. However, people with egg or sesame allergies should take caution. Depending on the brand and type of soy sauce, certain ones contain gluten which makes the recipe unsuitable for people with celiac disease.

Ingredient Highlight:

Egg: Eggs contain all the essential amino acids that the human body needs and are high in nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin D, choline, and so on [ii]. The nutrient-dense profile makes eggs an excellent choice of protein. Certain studies have even suggested the potential of egg proteins exerting anti-cancer activities [iii, iv]. Eggs have also been proven to protect against sarcopenia in adults [iv]. However, the consumption of eggs may also reduce appetite, hence the amount consumed should be moderated by populations that wish to maintain appetite and weight [iv].

Sesame oil: Sesame oil is commonly used in East Asian cuisines. The high content of phytochemical antioxidants and unsaturated fatty acids (comprising 82% of sesame oil) including omega-3 and omega-6 make it a nutritious oil [v, vi, vii]. Its high antioxidants and unsaturated fatty acids have made sesame oil a great choice to fight inflammatory-related diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, and diabetic diseases by helping with blood sugar control and so on [v, vii]. What’s even more is its potential to enhance the quality of sleep [viii]. Lastly, the earthy and irresistible aroma makes it perfect for food flavor enhancement and is the main reason for its popularity in Asian cuisines.

Recipe, Serves 1, 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 egg
Water 2.5 oz (water should be 1.5 times the weight of egg)
Soy sauce 1tsp
Roasted sesame oil 1tsp

Instructions:

Break 1 egg (keep one broken half of shell for step 2) in a small bowl that ideally can be covered with a lid.
Use the one half of the broken egg shell to fill it with water and add to the bowl 3 times (or about 6 tablespoon of water). The ratio is 1 whole egg to 1.5 parts water.
Mix everything until the egg white is undetectable, then cover it with a lid (or plastic wrap).
Set up your steamer with tap water and place the bowl of egg mixture in the steamer before any heating.
Turn on steamer and set a 15-minute timer.
Take out the egg pudding after timer ends; the bowl would be hot, please be careful.
Add soy sauce on top of the pudding for tasting (for enhanced flavoring, you can slice vertically with knife to cut the pudding into smaller pieces).
Add roasted sesame oil on top.

Notes:

If soy sauce is unavailable, add 2 sprinkles of salt after step 2 and mix well with egg
If time permits, try removing the air bubbles in egg mixture with spoon or filter after step 3
Due to the difference in steamer cookwares, please check if the pudding is cooked well by slightly tilting the bowl
Feel free to add more soy sauce/salt, sesame oil and scallions for your ideal tasting

References:

[i] Nutrition during cancer. Nutrition During Cancer – NCI. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/side-effects/nutrition.

[ii] Office of dietary supplements – dietary supplements for immune function and infectious diseases. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/ImmuneFunction-Consumer/.

[iii] Lee JH, Paik H-D. Anticancer and immunomodulatory activity of egg proteins and peptides: A Review. Poultry Science. 2019;98(12):6505-6516. doi:10.3382/ps/pez381

[iv] Puglisi MJ, Fernandez ML. The health benefits of egg protein. Nutrients. 2022;14(14):2904. doi:10.3390/nu14142904

[v] Oboulbiga EB, Douamba Z, Compaoré-Sérémé D, et al. Physicochemical, potential nutritional, antioxidant and health properties of Sesame Seed Oil: A Review. Frontiers in Nutrition. 2023;10. doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1127926

[vi] Mokh A, Abdelhady D, Ghazy E, Aboumosalem H, Goda W. Sesame oil mitigates initiation stage of diethynitrosamine hepatocarcinogenesis in rats. SLOVENIAN VETERINARY RESEARCH. Published online March 9, 2019. doi:10.26873/svr-786-2019

[vii] 1. Sobel A. 10 science-backed benefits of Sesame Oil. Healthline. July 14, 2023. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sesame-oil-benefits#TOC_TITLE_HDR_4.

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Susan Bratton

Susan started Savor Health after losing a close friend to a brain tumor and, through that experience, becoming aware of the significant unmet nutritional needs of people with cancer. Struck by the fact that her friend was told “nutrition doesn’t matter” and “eat whatever you want,” Susan read the evidence-based literature on the subject, interviewed oncologists, oncology nurses and oncology dietitians, as well as patients and caregivers, and found that, in fact, nutrition does matter in oncology. Armed with solid scientific evidence supporting the clinical and quality of life benefits of proper nutrition, Susan left Wall Street and created Savor Health, an AI-based provider of personalized and clinically appropriate nutrition solutions for cancer patients, their caregivers and health enterprises. Susan brings to Savor Health over 25 years of industry experience in healthcare and business as well as expertise in strategy, finance and management.

Susan is an outspoken and tireless advocate for cancer patients receiving proper nutrition and nutrition support before, during and after treatment. She strongly believes that the U. S. healthcare system requires new innovation to transform it into a more holistic and integrated system of care whereby multiple disciplines coordinate care together for the benefit of the whole patient. As part of this, her goal is for nutrition to be an integral component of such an integrated cancer care delivery system. Susan’s commitment to the field of oncology extends beyond Savor Health to volunteer work at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in pediatrics and as a runner for Fred’s Team to raise money for research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Susan participated in the Cancer Moonshot in June of 2016 where she was a breakout session group “igniter” tasked with starting and leading discussion. Susan’s first book, the Meals to Heal Cancer Cookbook, was published in March 2016.

In addition to her role as CEO of Savor Health, Susan speaks nationally about the importance of ensuring proper nutrition in the cancer patient and on topics including leadership and startups. She has been a speaker at the Harvard Medical School’s Career Advancement and Leadership Skills for Women in Healthcare, ESMO World Congress on GI Cancer, BioPharm America, AARP Live @50+, Lake Nona Impact Forum, and IIR ePharma Summit.

Prior to starting Savor Health, Susan had a successful career on Wall Street as a healthcare services investment banker working at prestigious firms including Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Wasserstein Perella and Robertson Stephens. Susan earned a B.A. from Duke University and M.B.A. from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business.

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Anthony DeFrance

Dr. DeFrance has a unique background including clinical interventional cardiologist, chief medical officer, educator, outcomes researcher and entrepreneur. He has expertise in Lifestyle medicine in which he was board certified in 2020 and is highly interested in the prevention and reversal of chronic disease. Dr. DeFrance also has expertise in appropriate utilization of technology in medicine, healthcare economics, value-based metrics, and educational design and delivery. He worked as Chief Medical Officer for HealthHelp, one of the largest specialty benefit managers in the US, and led large teams of healthcare professionals in writing evidence based appropriate care guidelines and rule sets which improve the quality and safety of medicine for over 20 million people in the US while also creating sustained savings in healthcare. He has also designed clinical decision support systems that are currently in use helping to improve patient care.

In 2018 Dr. DeFrance founded MedMentor Education, a company that provides state of the art CME content using the latest in eLearning science and online delivery platforms. Dr. DeFrance is also the founder and President of Digimedica, a consulting and educational design and delivery company for healthcare professionals, hospitals, and universities. He is passionate about creating systems to optimize knowledge transfer and has won numerous awards for teaching excellence during his career. He is an expert in cardiovascular CT imaging and has taught more than 3,000 physicians how to perform and interpret cardiac CT nationally and internationally and has lectured extensively on this subject.

Dr. DeFrance has a stellar reputation in the medical field and continues work to improve the quality and safety of patient care in the US.

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Yolanda T. Becker

Dr. Becker has served in many roles throughout her career as a Transplant Surgeon. She is currently Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at LifeGift, an organ transplant procurement organization. Dr. Becker is a Past President of the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network/United Network for Organ Sharing (“OPTN/UNOS”) Board of Directors and served during tumultuous times. While serving as OPTN President, lung allocation and liver allocations were both amended to decrease geographic disparities. She has most recently served on the UNOS corporate affairs committee as an advisor. Dr. Becker is a former committee member for the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine. She is currently serving on the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) steering committee as the Co-Chair of a workgroup assessing patient factors contributing to kidney graft loss.

Dr. Becker previously served as an elected member of the American Society of Transplantation (“AST”) Board of Directors, co-chairing its winter symposium, chairing its education committee and additionally serving on the minority affairs committee. She has served on the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (“ASTS”) scientific studies committee and on the AST/ASTS American Transplant Congress program planning committee. She also has served on the Board of Directors of the National Kidney Registry. Dr. Becker earned her medical degree at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore and completed her surgery training at Vanderbilt University. She finished her multiorgan transplant fellowship at the University of Wisconsin as is proud of training many of the current Surgical Directors of Transplant Programs around the country. She is currently a retired Professor of Surgery from the University of Chicago. Dr. Becker is the proud mom of 2 college sophomores. In addition to her newly found love for running, she enjoys cheering on her favorite soccer teams, reading and taking care of her many pets.

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David Raben

David Raben, M.D. is currently V.P. and Chief Medical Officer, Bicara Therapeutics. Dr. Raben is also on faculty at the University of Colorado where he is a board-certified Professor of Radiation Oncology and has recently been named a U.S. News Top Doctor. He received a B.A. in Psychology from Duke University in 1985 and completed his M.D. at Wake Forest University/Bowman Grey School of Medicine in 1990. After graduation, he completed residency in Radiation Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1991-1994, serving as a chief resident in 1994. Dr. Raben has developed nationally recognized clinical expertise over the past 20 years in the management of head and neck cancer (HNC), lung cancer and prostate/bladder cancers. Clinically, Dr. Raben has a strong interest in nutritional precision for patients, with an interest in reducing processed foods and sugars in patients with locally advanced cancers, especially ones with high cell turnover. An anti-inflammatory strategy with a Mediterranean dietary approach coupled with reductions in high carbohydrate loading may reduce or slow cancer progression and improve a patient’s intrinsic microbiome to enhance immune response to various therapies including immune enabling drugs like checkpoint inhibitors that have shown dramatic success recently in advanced cancers. From a research perspective, his focus has been on laboratory discoveries and innovative clinical trials in areas such as high risk, heavy smoker HNC patients and has explored approaches that inhibit cancer DNA repair or growth factor signaling. Dr. Raben recently completed the first Phase I clinical trial in the US with and oral DNA repair inhibitor (PARP inhibitor) and radiation for heavy smokers when combined with intensity modulated radiation (IMRT). His efforts currently center around evaluation of TGFb inhibition in HNSCC as well as the use of radiation to stimulate activity of immune enabling drugs. Nationally, Dr. Raben serves on the NRG Oncology head and neck steering committee as well as co-chairing the Developmental Therapeutics Co-Chair at the NRG. He actively serves as an ASCO Ambassador for Multidisciplinary Cancer Management Courses (MCMC) to help educate underserved areas around the world in cancer care. Finally, he serves an ad hoc reviewer for high impact journals such as Journal of Clinical Oncology, Annals of Oncology, JAMA Oncology, Oral Oncology, Head and Neck, Int. Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, Clinical Cancer Research and Cancer Research. He has authored over 140 publications.

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Spice It Up: Steamed Egg Pudding