Rice/Vegetable Steamer Help

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pinkstarfish

Assistant Cook
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
2
Hi,

I just bought a Rice/Vegetable Steamer overseas, and the instruction book didn't actually contain many instructions....

So I was wondering if anyone could tell me where to find some or give me some help,

I am just unsure of how long to steam certain vegetables, whether to put them in the bowl inside the dish or just on the steamer tray.

And when making rice, how long it takes, do I add water to the bowl with the rice?

(as you can see, I need a lot of help.)

Thanks :LOL:
 

kitchenelf

Chef Extraordinaire
Joined
Feb 21, 2002
Messages
19,722
Location
North Carolina
Here also, are some very basic instructions


Food Steamers

Question - When using a vegetable food steamer, what foods go in what basket or how can I cook more than one at a time?

Answer - We make food steamers that come with one or two steamer bowls. If you have two steamer bowls, and you are cooking more than one item (rice and vegetables), we recommend placing the food that will take longer in the bottom steamer bowl and the other in the top steamer bowl.


Question - Why is the white rice not cooking all the way in my food steamer?

Answer - Most of the time, white rice not cooking all the way is caused from the use of slow cooking rice. If you are using slow cooking rice, use 1-cup of rice to 1 1/4 cups of water and cook for 35 minutes.
How do I clean my vegetable food steamer? To clean the vegetable food steamer, please follow the steps below:

Unplug cord from outlet. Before cleaning, allow Steamer to cool.

Never immerse the Base, Cord or Plug in water.

Empty the drip tray and the water reservoir. If there is a small amount of water remaining inside the water box, you can just turn the unit upside down and water will come out from the water inlet.

Wash lid, steaming bowl, rice bowl and drip tray in hot, soapy water. Rinse and dry all parts, or wash on top rack of dishwasher.

Clean reservoir with soapy water then wipe with damp cloth.

Do not use abrasive cleaners.

The lower steaming bowl and the rice bowl can be stored inside the upper steaming bowl with the lid on top.

In hard water areas, the scale may build up in the heating element. If scale is allowed to accumulate, the steam could turn off before the food is cooked. So, after 7 to 10 uses, pour 3 cups clear vinegar into the water reservoir then fill with water up to the HI level. Do not place lid, steaming bowl, rice bowl and drip tray in this procedure.

Plug in and set timer to 20 minutes. When the timer rings, unplug cord from outlet. Allow the unit to cool completely before emptying water reservoir. Use cold water to rinse the water reservoir several times.
 

kitchenelf

Chef Extraordinaire
Joined
Feb 21, 2002
Messages
19,722
Location
North Carolina
Here are a couple recipes for you too. After the recipes is just an article I found written by someone about their steamer and it's uses (where these recipes came from)

Steamed Chicken with Ginger-Garlic Oil
2 Tbs. minced ginger
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1/4 + 1/8 tsp. fine sea salt
1 Tbs. peanut oil
2 chicken leg-thigh pieces (about 1 to 1 1/4 lb.)
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt to coat chicken pieces
With a mortar and pestle, pound the minced ginger and garlic with the sea salt until well-blended and pasty. Transfer to a small sauce dish and add the peanut oil. Stir well and let sit for the flavors to blend for at least half an hour before serving. For better flavor, make a day ahead of time.

Trim excess fat off the edges of the two pieces of chicken, but leave the skin on. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp. sea salt over each piece, rubbing the salt into the flesh and skin.

Place chicken in a heat-proof dish that will fit on the rack of a stacked steamer. The dish should have some depth (at least 2 inches) to catch the juices that will steam out from the chicken. Let sit for 20 minutes before steaming.

Bring two inches of water on the bottom of the steamer pot to a rolling boil before placing the rack holding the bowl with chicken over it. Cover and steam over medium-high heat for 25-30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through to the bone.

Remove bowl from steamer rack. The chicken will be sitting in a fair amount of broth. Remove from broth and chop through the bone with a cleaver into bite-size pieces, or bone with a sharp knife and slice into small pieces about 1/2-inch thick. Place chicken pieces back in their juices and serve with the ginger-garlic oil.

Serves 3-4 with rice and other dishes in a shared family-style meal.


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Steamed Eggplant with Sesame-Soy Sauce
2 long Chinese eggplants
2 Tbs. naturally fermented soy sauce*
1 tsp. pure sesame oil
1/2 tsp. rice vinegar
1/2 tsp. ground dried red chillies
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
A few cilantro sprigs for garnish
Trim off the stem end of the eggplants and cut crosswise into segments about 2 inches long. Place on a steamer rack and steam over medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes, or until they are cooked to the tenderness of your liking.

While the eggplants are steaming, make the sauce by combining soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, ground dried chillies and sugar. Stir well to blend flavors.

When the eggplants are done, remove from steamer and when they are cool enough to handle, cut each piece in half lengthwise and each half again into 2-3 long strips. Arrange single layer on a serving plate. Spoon the sesame-soy sauce evenly over the eggplant pieces, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and garnish with cilantro.

Good warm, cold or at room temperature. Serves 2-3 with rice in a multi-course family-style meal.

*My preferred brand of soy sauce is Kimlan, imported from Taiwan. If you are not able to find it in Asian markets near you, use Kikkoman.

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Along with the wok, a stacked steamer is an indispensable piece of equipment in a Chinese and Southeast Asian kitchen. It is made up of a pot, two racks with holes for steam to pass through, and a domed lid. The shape of the lid is designed to minimize the dripping of condensed steam onto the foods being cooked.

Stacked steamers are made either of aluminum or stainless steel and are inexpensive when purchased from Asian markets that carry cookware. Much more versatile than bamboo steamers and the collapsible vegetable steaming rack, they can do everything these two can do, plus much more.

In my home, the steamer lives on the stove and is never put away. It is used just about every day to cook a wide variety of foods, from fluffy steamed rice and vegetables to flavored meat dishes and impressive, but easy, steamed whole fish.

Steaming is a healthful way to cook. Foods that are properly steamed retain their nutrition and sweet, natural flavor, requiring little or no oil. To people with limited time to cook, steam-cooking has the added benefit of being easy. Tasty food can be made with little effort as long as the ingredients used are fresh.

I grew up eating a lot of steamed pork and chicken dishes. Below is a recipe for very easy steamed chicken. As a child, I love spooning the delightfully sweet and very flavorful juice that steamed out from the chicken onto my rice. I still do and if there is any left, it is saved for soup stock, or for adding to any stir-fried dishes that require liquid. Instead of chicken thighs, breasts may also be steamed, but be careful not to overcook as breast meat can dry out. Try this recipe also with pork chops.

I also grew up eating a lot of steamed eggplant, one of my mother's favorite vegetables and one that is delicious steamed. When I am busy and have little time to cook, I simply steam the eggplant, then flavor it with a simple sesame-flavored soy sauce. (See recipe below.) Because steaming gives eggplant a wonderful tender texture, another favorite way to prepare eggplant is to lightly steam it, then quickly stir-fry in a hot wok with a little oil, garlic, oyster sauce, fish sauce or light soy sauce, slivered chillies and basil. (See Stir-fried Eggplant with Chillies and Thai Basil.)

If you do not own a stacked steamer set and do not wish to invest in one just yet, you can improvise and rig up a simple make-shift steamer with equipment that you may already have in your kitchen. Use a large pot wide enough and deep enough to accommodate the dish that you will use for steaming, preferably with a domed lid. Fill pot with 1 1/2 to 2 inches of water, and use some kind of trivet or an inverted bowl placed on the bottom of the pot for the dish holding the food to be steamed to sit on. Bring water in the pot to a boil, cover and steam as instructed.

A bamboo steamer, which is best for steaming dumplings and buns, will work, too, for the two recipes given here if it is sufficiently large and deep. Do not use on a wok as you may have been advised unless it is an electric non-stick wok. Boiling water in a well-seasoned wok can easily ruin its hard-earned shiny, black patina. Better to balance the bamboo steamer on top of a slightly wider metal pot.

But if you are planning to do a lot of steam cooking, it is well worth every penny to invest in a good-size metal stacked steamer. It may very well earn a permanent place on your stove top.
 

Darkstream

Senior Cook
Joined
Sep 7, 2004
Messages
287
Do not get concerned.

Try it on the tray first.

If it needs to be in a liquid (ie Chinese style), then put it in a bowl.

TASTE IT FROM TIME TO TIME.

Your mouth is your best guide for these things. Many people forget that, until they look after the grandchildren, who ALLWAYS put things into their mouths to test them.

Just do not burn your mouth!
 
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