All steamed up

It’s been around for centuries in our part of the world. The Chinese have been using it for 300,000 years to delicious effect. It had played a vital role in keeping hearts healthy long before it was known that health and the way food is prepared are connected. And contrary to a lot of people’s beliefs, it is a very versatile and flavorful method of cookery.

Steaming, unlike roasting, grilling or baking, utilizes moist heat. The food is not cooked or immersed in hot grease or liquid as is the case with frying, sautéing, boiling, and poaching. And since steam circulates within a confined space, it produces convection, which provides even heating. Because steam is essentially hot vapor, food cooked by steaming also remains moist, juicy, and intact throughout. No drying out or overcooking, as sometimes happens with frying and roasting, or leaching of nutrients, which frequently occurs with boiling and poaching.

So, why isn’t it as popular a method of cookery in this country as, say, frying or boiling? Probably because of the misconception that steamed foods are bland and limited in variety. Yet many major cuisines around the globe feature mouthwatering steamed delicacies. These range from the almost endless selection of Chinese dim sum to the vast assortment of vegetable, meat, and seafood dishes that abound in Asia alone to the astonishing array of snacks and sweets that grace tables from east to west and everywhere in between. Lest anyone forget, our very own native kakanin are cooked by steaming, as are such renowned classic European desserts as English plum pudding and French crème caramel.

All of which goes to show that steaming need not produce foods that do little to stimulate one’s taste buds. Proper seasoning is the rule just as it is with all methods of cookery. There is also the alternative of adding herbs and aromatics to the steaming liquid, which results in food infused with flavor that goes beyond skin-deep. And since neither nutrients nor juices are lost in significant quantities, natural flavors and textures are preserved to a great extent.

But, of course, if one wishes to explore the world of steam cookery, one will need to invest in a steamer first. And there is quite a selection out there to choose from. Steaming equipment runs the gamut from no-frills basic to the highly technological.

You have the rustic bamboo steamer seen in many Asian kitchens, ranging in size from humongous to the small baskets in which dim sum is usually served in Chinese restaurants. Then, there are the various metal steamers readily available at your local department store or kitchenware shop. We see them everywhere from wet markets to fast-food outlets to most home kitchens. There are also the occasional odd-shaped steamers, such as the bamboo tubes used to cook puto bumbong and Indian puttu, round cakes made from rice flour and coconut. But these are the exceptions to the rule. In any case, these stovetop steamers are relatively inexpensive and very easy to use. But you do need to check from time to time that the steaming liquid in the bottom pan does not dry out or conversely is not coming up in copious quantities through the perforations in the food pan, a mishap that can leave you with soggy rather than moist siopao or puto, for instance.

At the other end of the spectrum are the automatic electronic steam ovens that require just the push of a button or turn of a dial to get things going. One of the most advanced models I’ve seen of this type of steamer is the Miele Vitasteam. The brainchild of one of Germany’s foremost appliance manufacturers, the Miele (pronounced mee-lë) Vitasteam is a scaled-down version of the commercial steam ovens used in many restaurants and hotels, and is therefore tailored for domestic kitchens. Unlike your garden-variety stovetop steamer, the Vitasteam looks like and is about the size of a large microwave oven, is equipped with a thermostat and timer, and can cook up to three different kinds of foods at the same time with remarkable precision. It is Miele’s way of combining Asian traditions in steam cookery with the European passion for method and precision.

The brief cooking demonstration at Miele’s showroom featuring this admittedly impressive German innovation veered away from the more common Asian-influenced dishes with which Filipinos tend to associate steam cookery. Instead, a quiche-like casserole of chorizo, onions, and tomatoes embedded in savory custard and chocolate pudding with a touch of mint were offered for sampling. The custard in the casserole came out creamy and tremblingly tender, while the pudding was dense and moist, almost like a fudge cake in consistency, proof that steaming is not only an easy and healthy method of cooking but also an adaptable and concise one.

In line with the introduction of their steam oven, Miele has also published an elegant complementary coffee-table book, Steam: The Spirit of Life, which features renowned chefs from eight Asian cities and the recipes for their steamed food specialties. The featured cities – Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taipei, Singapore, Bali, Seoul, Tokyo, and Shanghai – showcase the best of Asian cookery. They are also often the settings for non-Asians’ first encounters with the region’s rich and diverse cuisine. At the very least, this appropriately named eyeful of a book illustrates that steam cuisine is plentiful, varied, flavorsome, and very much worth adding to one’s culinary repertoire.