Steaming food is a healthy, simple and delicious way of cooking. By steaming, food can maintain its original nutritional value and taste while avoiding the addition of excessive fat and salt. In this article, we will introduce some steaming techniques and steps to help you easily make delicious and healthy steamed vegetables.
Preparation
Before steaming food, you need to prepare some basic tools and materials:
Steamer: This is the basic tool for steaming food. You can choose between a traditional bamboo steamer or an electronic steamer.
Steamer: This is a container for food, usually made of bamboo or stainless steel.
Pot lid: used to cover the steamer to prevent steam from escaping.
Water: The basic material used to generate steam.
Ingredients: You can choose any ingredients you like, such as vegetables, meat, fish, etc.
Seasoning: Choose appropriate seasonings according to your taste, such as salt, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic, etc.
Steps
Here are the basic steps for steaming food:
Step 1: Prepare the steamer
Place the steamer on the stove , add appropriate amount of water. The amount of water should be enough to create steam, but no more than the height of the steamer basket.
Step 2: Prepare ingredients
Prepare the ingredients you want to steam. If you are steaming vegetables, it is recommended to wash, peel and seed them first. If you are steaming meat or fish, it is recommended to cut it into appropriate sizes first.
Step 3: Seasoning
Choose the appropriate seasoning according to your taste and sprinkle it evenly on the ingredients.
Step 4: Place ingredients
Place ingredients in the steamer. If you are using a bamboo steamer, it is recommended to place a layer of steamer mat or lettuce leaves on the bottom of the steamer to prevent food from sticking to the steamer.
Step 5: Steam the ingredients
Place the steamer basket on the steamer and cover the pot. Turn up the heat, wait for the water to start boiling, then reduce the heat to low. Steaming time depends on the type and size of the ingredients. Generally, vegetables need to be steamed for 3-5 minutes, and meat and fish need to be steamed for 10-20 minutes.
Step 6: Check the ingredients
Use chopsticks or a knife to check whether the ingredients are cooked. If the ingredients are not cooked yet, you can continue cooking.
Step 7: Serve
Take out the steamed ingredients and place them on a plate. You can choose to sprinkle some chopped green onion or coriander leaves on the ingredients to increase the taste and appearance.
Tips
Before steaming food, it is recommended to scald the steamer and steamer with boiling water to disinfect and remove odor.
If you are using a bamboo steamer, it is recommended to soak it in water first to prevent food from sticking to the steamer.
When cooking meat and fish, it is recommended to add some ginger slices or green onion segments to remove odor.
If you like your food to be more tender, you can marinate the ingredients with a small amount of salt and starch before steaming.
If you are using an electronic steamer, you can set different cooking times and temperatures according to the type and size of the ingredients.