How to Cook Meat in a Bamboo Steamer

pork buns in bamboo steamer

Bamboo steamers are used primarily in Asian cultures for cooking a variety of foods. Chinese Dim Sum is made using these versatile cooking vessels. They are an efficient method of cooking because the trays are designed to stack on top of each other, allowing different foods to cook at the same time but only utilizing one burner on the stovetop. Steaming is a healthy method of cooking since you don't need any oils to saute or fry with. This makes them a perfect cooking method for all meats, though they are traditionally used to cook chicken, fish and pork.

Things You'll Need

• Parchment paper
• Wok or saucepan that steamer will fit on top of
• 1 lb. chicken, fish or pork

Instructions

1. Put the bamboo steamer into a wok and add water until the level comes up below the bottom layer of the steamer. You don't want the rack to be submerged in water. If you don't have a wok, you can fit the steamer onto the top of a saucepan, with the water level filled to about half. Don't turn the water on just yet, you still need to put your food in the steamer, and you don't want to do that over a hot wok.

2. Prepare the meat. Bamboo steamers use a moist heat for cooking, so fish and chicken do particularly well. Pork is traditionally cooked by being chopped or diced and wrapped in dumplings before cooking, but there's no reason small cuts of loin or chops can't be steamed. Because of the size of the steamer, smaller cuts of meat will cook more quickly and efficiently.

3. Place a small piece of parchment on the bamboo rack. This will help keep the meat from sticking while cooking. You can also rub a small bit of oil onto the rack or even use a piece of lettuce or cabbage. Another advantage of not placing meat directly onto the steamer is that the bamboo won't absorb the fats from the meat, leaving the surface clean for the next use.

4. Place the meat onto the rack. Put one layer of meat down at a time. If you have more meat than one rack allows, simply add another rack and continue. Put the lid onto the steamer and place the rack into the wok or on top of the saucepan and turn on the heat.

5. Allow at least fifteen to twenty minutes of cooking time. Chicken and pork require an internal temperature of 170 and 160 degrees F. respectively. When removing the lid, be careful of the emerging steam from the basket.

Tips & Warnings

• Place onions, carrots or other root vegetables into the steam water for added flavor add ginger, garlic or fresh herbs for a more aromatic steam.

References

• Asian Recipes using Bamboo Steamers