{"id":18,"date":"2007-09-25T15:35:21","date_gmt":"2007-09-25T22:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theasiangrandmotherscookbook.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/25\/how-i-became-a-steam-queen\/"},"modified":"2007-09-25T15:35:21","modified_gmt":"2007-09-25T22:35:21","slug":"how-i-became-a-steam-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/picklesandtea\/how-i-became-a-steam-queen\/","title":{"rendered":"My rise as steam queen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"me<\/a><\/p>\n

This is me. This is the\u00a0hole\u00a0I made in the bottom of my mom’s steamer pot. And\u00a0I’m looking at you right through it. You’d think it would\u00a0be\u00a0pretty hard to\u00a0bore a hole\u00a0through metal. Think again. When it comes to me in the kitchen, anything is possible.<\/p>\n

I was trying out\u00a0my mum’s recipe for\u00a0an Indonesian cake called kue lapis sagu (literally layered cake; more on this later), and like many Asian cakes, it’s steamed not baked. Here\u00a0is a picture of\u00a0my mum’s trusty steamer before aforementioned hole.\u00a0\u00a0It’s\u00a0a traditional contraption\u00a0that I’ve also seen in many Asian kitchens. Sadly, it has now been relegated to the garbage can.<\/p>\n

\"DSC05667\"<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

But what can you do? Some novice experiences\u00a0proceed without a hitch while others …\u00a0well, I’m sure anyone who has been experimental in the kitchen can identify.<\/p>\n

I hate to admit steaming is not new to me.\u00a0My mum steamed\u00a0lots of foods (fish, rice bundles, sweets, etc.) when I was growing up, and\u00a0I can still recall helping\u00a0her make cupcakes when I was wee high. But\u00a0I rarely steamed anything in my own kitchen B.C. (before cookbook).\u00a0Looking on the bright side,\u00a0this\u00a0mishap\u00a0was an excellent lesson in the do’s and don’ts of steaming. The number one “do” being “do check\u00a0on the water level at regular intervals\u00a0to ensure it\u00a0doesn’t run dry and burn a hole right through the bottom of your pot.”\u00a0(One caveat though,\u00a0you need to make sure\u00a0the liquid doesn’t touch the bottom of the food being steamed.)<\/p>\n

And mind this very important note I gave to myself:\u00a0the release of\u00a0a constant stream of steam\u00a0doesn’t mean the water level in the pot is sufficiently high (yes, that was my downfall.)\u00a0I have since recovered from my first steaming fiasco and steaming\u00a0has become quite a fixture in my cooking repertoire as I have discovered it is a very popular cooking method across all Asian cuisines.\u00a0And why not? Steaming is fast and easy,\u00a0healthy, and allows food to remain moist and flavorful. Thanks to some wonderful teachers, you can\u00a0now call me steam queen!<\/p>\n

So far, I have learned to make:<\/p>\n

Steamed sponge cake<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"sponge<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Egg crepe rolls<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"egg<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Suman (coconut sticky rice cakes)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"suman<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, you don\u2019t have to go out and buy a fancy three\u00a0tiered aluminum steamer like my mum’s. You can easily steam most foods with\u00a0an inexpensive\u00a0bamboo steamer, a stockpot with a pasta insert, or an asparagus steamer.<\/p>\n

Or you could experiment with some of these common implements you might already have lying around in your kitchen:<\/p>\n