How to DIY a Steamer if You Don't Have One

Food and Wine

In this video, chef and owner of Bonnie's, Calvin Eng, reveals clever tips for steaming food even if you don't own a traditional steamer. Learn how to improvise with common kitchen items to create an effective steaming setup, ensuring perfectly cooked vegetables, proteins, and more.

Transcript

00:00I'm Calvin Eng. I'm the chef and owner of Bonnie's in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and

00:03author of Salt Sugar Wrap SG and today we're going to talk about steaming.

00:08Steaming usually gets a bad rap. People often associate it with like healthy and

00:11diet food but it doesn't have to be. It's an easy delicious way to steam

00:15vegetables or proteins and even desserts. We have a bunch of those recipes right

00:20in the cookbook. So my first tip is to find a large enough pot. This is the pot

00:25that I use mainly at home when I'm steaming food and in dishes. It's only an

00:29eight quart pot but I find it to be the perfect size for everything that I need.

00:33So the next tip is to figure out your steaming rack and your steaming trays. I

00:38have this rack that I like to use to elevate my steaming tray from the pot.

00:43If you don't have a steaming rack, you can easily just take an inverted bowl and then

00:47fill it with water around the edges and then put your steaming tray right on top

00:51of that to allow steam to come up the sides. My third tip is to have a tight

00:56fitting lid. I know a lot of pots don't come with lids but if they do, that's

01:00all you're gonna need. But also if you're steaming something that's a little too

01:04big and it comes out of the pot, you can get creative and use a bowl and just

01:08dome it just like that and it'll keep all the steam trapped inside. And one more

01:13additional bonus safety tip, steam is extremely extremely hot so when you're

01:17putting anything in or taking anything out, I always like to cut the heat first and

01:20let the steam escape a little bit before I even get my hands near there to remove

01:24anything or add anything in. I also have these nifty little steamer tray tongs to

01:28remove things and add things to the pot to keep my little thingy safe from the steam.

01:32I hope these tips are helpful!

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