Cumin rice steaming under a cloth

This category contains recipes where primary method of cooking is steaming.

A Chinese steamer makes a good cheese mould

Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. Overcooking or burning food is easily avoided when steaming it. Health conscious individuals may prefer steaming to other methods which require cooking oil, resulting in lower fat content.

Steaming also results in a more nutritious food than boiling because fewer nutrients are leached away into the water, which is usually discarded.

In Chinese cooking, steaming is used to cook many meat dishes, for example, steamed whole fish, steamed pork spare ribs, steamed ground pork or beef patties, steamed chicken, steamed goose etc. Other than meat dishes, many Chinese rice and wheat foods are steamed too. Examples include buns, Chinese steamed cakes etc. Steamed meat dishes (except some dim sum) are less common in Chinese restaurants than in traditional home cooking because meats usually require longer cooking time to steam than to stir fry.

You can use a traditional Chinese steamer to steam food, however, the ones I have found are quite small. I find a colander raised on an Pyrex bowl in a large pan is a better method.

Cooking times for steaming food

Food type Distance from steam source Food steaming cooking times Food preparation notes
Asparagus spears Near 4 to 5 minutes Trim woody stumps
Spinach Near 3 to 4 minutes Use washed whole leaves
Carrots Far 7 to10 minutes Peeled and cut to 5mm slices
New potatoes Far 15 to 20 minutes Washed, scrubbed, whole with skins on
Cabbage Far 10 to 15 minutes Leaves quartered with stems removed
Broccoli Far 5 to 8 minutes Trimmed florets, cut cross in base if large florets
Corn on the cob Far 10 to 15 minutes Whole with husks removed
Leeks Far 8 to 10 minutes Washed and cut into 1 cm discs
Cauliflower Far 5 to 10 minutes Cut into florets
Sugar snap peas Far 5 to 8 minutes Top & tail, leave whole
Brussels sprouts Far 10 to 15 minutes Peel and cut cross in base
Celery Far 5 to 10 minutes Leave whole or dice
Butternut squash Far 10 to 12 minutes Peel and cut into 2 cm cubes
Sweet potatoes Far 8 to 12 minutes Peel and cut into 2 cm cubes
Chicken fillets Far 10 to 15 minutes Season first
Salmon fillets Far 6 to 10 minutes Remove scales & season
Small whole fish Far 10 to 15 minutes Gutted and descaled
Whole prawns Far 5 to 7 minutes Deveined (or can be cooked with shell on)

If the steamer has an adjustable basket, this is the distance source of the steam.

See also