As you probably know, we feature a bamboo steamer in our April article on healthy cooking must-haves. Have you ever used a bamboo steamer? It’s one of those overlooked kitchen tools that can help you eat better by cooking fat-free and preserving food nutrients. “It looks cool for parties, too,” says Janis Felmeister, MS, RD, owner of the Food Genie personal chef service in Boynton Beach, Fla.
Steaming food (using no butter or oil) avoids super-high heat or direct contact with water, which can destroy or leach out nutrients. “I stack three separate steamer [baskets]: one for vegetables, one for meat or fish and one for dumplings to make a whole meal at once,” Felmeister says. “Clean up is easy, too. You just wash your steamer with soap and water.” (Don’t put it in the dishwasher.)
If you’ve never used one, try these tips for using a bamboo steamer to cook food:
Location, location: To cook an entire meal at the same time, you’ll need to multi-tiered bamboo steamer with interlocking baskets. Place food that takes the longest to cook, such as thicker cuts of meat (like a chicken breast) or hearty vegetables (such as corn on the cob or potatoes) in the bottom tier, closest to the heat source, spread out in a single layer. Thinner cuts of meat or fish go in the middle level. Reserve the top layer for quick-cooking foods, such as delicate vegetables or dumplings. Place the steamer stack over a pot of simmering water. “The steam floats up evenly from the bottom so cooking doesn’t take long,” Felmeister says.
Keep an eye on the water level and check your food periodically until everything is done. A safety note: Be very careful when removing the steamer lid and keep your face clear of the steam it releases. Otherwise, “it’s easy to burn your eyebrows,” Felmeister says.
Fish tips: When steaming fish, line the steamer basket with Napa cabbage, lettuce, cornhusks, or parchment paper to prevent it from sticking to the steamer basket or leaving a fishy scent in the wood. But leave space around each piece of fish or meat so the steam can circulate and cook the food.
Layer in flavor. Line steamer baskets with herbs or aromatics—such as garlic, thyme, ginger, lemon, lemon grass, or rosemary—between vegetables or fish or meat to impart flavor without salt. “The flavors come up through the bottom of the steamer, infusing the food directly above it,” Felmeister says. (We’ll have more tips on steaming foods in our May issue).
Instead of water, try steaming with vegetable broth. In fact, that’s what Felmeister does when she makes soup. (Yes, you can make soup in a bamboo steamer.) Felmeister uses broth instead of water to steam her soup components, such as vegetables and udon noodles. She then uses that broth as her soup base.
Although we don't review bamboo steamers, they are easy to find in specialty stores. You can buy a 12-inch, two-tier bamboo steamer for less than $30.
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