Steaming is an important cooking method, and there is a saying in our country that "no vegetables are steamed". Steaming means heating with steam to make the raw materials with good taste mature or crisp. It is characterized by maintaining the original shape, original juice and original flavor of the dish, and can preserve various nutrients of the dish to a great extent. Steamed vegetables are delicious, tender and refreshing, beautiful and colorful, and the loss of raw juice is less, and they are not mixed and scattered, so steamed vegetables are widely used and have many varieties. In addition, some other cooking methods are based on steaming.

There are many steaming utensils, such as wooden steamer and bamboo steamer. The shape can be large or small, and the level can be more or less, depending on the amount of raw materials. When steaming vegetables, we must pay attention to placing them in layers. Vegetables with less soup should be placed on top, vegetables with more soup should be placed below, light-colored vegetables should be placed on top, dark vegetables should be placed below, vegetables that are not easy to cook should be placed above, and vegetables that are easy to cook should be placed below.

Steamed vegetables should be cooked according to the cooking requirements and the raw materials are old and tender. Fast steaming with boiling water is suitable for tender raw materials, such as fish and vegetables. Steamed, not rotten, for about 15 minutes. For raw materials that are coarse and old in texture and need to be steamed crisp and rotten, they should be steamed in boiling water for a long time, such as crispy duck and steamed pork with flour. The dishes with fresh and tender raw materials, such as eggs, should be steamed slowly with medium fire and small fire.

There are many varieties and methods of steaming, mainly as follows.

1.flour steaming means that after the raw materials are flavored, they are mixed with rice flour and steamed.

2. Buckle steaming The raw materials are put together into various flower patterns and steamed in a special vessel.

3. Steaming leaves and lotus leaves are steamed with seasoned raw materials, and some are wrapped in cellophane before being caged.

4. Steaming, also known as stewing, is made by adding seasoning and a little broth to the raw materials, steaming them in a cage, and then drizzling them lightly.

5. Brewing and steaming means that raw materials are coated with minced fish, minced shrimp, minced chicken, etc., painted in various shapes and colors, or stuffed with various flame cores in food, and steamed in pots and bowls. After steaming, the original color and taste are still maintained.

6. Modeling steaming: after the raw materials are processed into velvet, they are mixed with seasonings and solidified substances, such as egg white, starch, agar, etc., made into various forms, steamed in a mold, and steamed into a solid shape.

To cook steamed vegetables well, we must pay attention to the following key points.

1.The raw materials should be fresh, because the protein in the raw materials is not easy to dissolve in water during steaming, and the seasoning is not easy to penetrate into the raw materials, so the original flavor is maintained to the maximum extent. Therefore, fresh raw materials must be selected, otherwise the taste will be affected.

2. Adjust the flavor. Seasoning can be divided into basic flavor and supplementary flavor. The basic flavor is to add flavor to the raw materials before steaming, and it takes a long time to soak and add flavor, and you can't use spicy spices, otherwise it will inhibit the umami flavor of the raw materials themselves. The tonic is to add the sauce after steaming, and the sauce should be salty and suitable, not too strong.

3. When the flour steaming method is adopted, coarse rice flour can be used as the raw material, and fine rice flour can be used as the raw material. Spices, pigments, etc. should be handled according to the needs of raw materials, and the thickness of rice noodles should be appropriate.

4. Grasp the temperature of raw materials when steaming, and the humidity of raw materials should be high to keep the dishes fresh and tender. Add less water to raw materials with more water, and add more water to raw materials with less water.

5. According to the degree of gas impact resistance of raw materials, the raw materials are steamed by emergency gas cover, that is, they are steamed in boiling gas after being tightly covered. Open or semi-open cage water rolling steaming. The method of steaming with warm air, gradually heating on cold water until it is short of breath.

In short, big fire, plenty of water and short time are the seven-character formula of steaming.