Cooking with steam is of great importance in Chinese cuisine. It's one of the best ways to lock the original flavors in the ingredients.
Vegetables are healthy and full of fiber, and steaming is a quick way to cook them without using much oil. Chinese cabbage is a perfect vegetable to steam: tender, less fibrous and mildly sweet. The tender cabbage can be steamed directly with a simple sauce consisting of garlic paste, soy sauce and sugar. Root vegetables like sweet potatoes are also great for steaming. They can be cut into thick sticks or slices and then steamed until the center becomes soft. Thin pieces of carrots can be coated with dry flour and then steamed. This quick dish is usually served with garlic paste.
Steaming fish, shrimp and crabs, is all about preserving the original taste, so freshness is the absolute No. 1 rule when we shop for seafood to be steamed. For fine food from a river, lake or sea, they must be freshly caught the day you buy them. Frozen fish is seldom steamed directly, because there can be a stronger fishy smell and taste. With all the internal organs and scales removed and blood cleaned, the fish is packed with slices of ginger and scallions (葱) that can reduce the fishiness. It's then placed in a steamer that has been preheated to boil, and cooked for 8 to 10 minutes depending on the size of the fish. The final step is to place scallions on top of the steamed fish. Then, in a small pot, heat up some oil and pour it across the body of the fish to help the flavor release. Next, drizzle (浇) a couple spoons of seasoned soy sauce for seafood around the plate and serve. When eating the fish, it's best to dip it in the sauce for the sweet taste.
