The East is not only a subtle matter, but also extremely mysterious: too many inventions came to us from there. And the steamer was also invented there. Who and how is still unknown, but why is very easy to calculate. The main grain crop in Southeast Asia is rice, there is a lot of gluten in it and its flour, so prehistoric Eastern people had to come up with a device for cooking their favorite dishes so as not to eat sticky lumps of porridge. The Chinese are said to have been the first to invent the steamer; ceramic vessels known as the Yan steamer date back as far as 5000 BC. But in the light of new discoveries, the theory was born that the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom adopted the method of processing food by steam from the Arabs, and those — from the Berbers of the Maghreb.
Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese traditional steamers are low baskets with lids woven from bamboo straws. Cooking in such a dish is not difficult; we take a basin or pot of boiling water, throw a few coins into it to control whether there is water left at the bottom, and put our bamboo lashes one above the other. While the coins are ringing — there is still water. We put fresh cabbage, lettuce or spinach leaves, corn husks, cheesecloth, food foil or parchment paper liners on the bottoms of the steamer, so that nothing falls through the straws and it is easier to wash the baskets from the remnants of dough, meat fibers or pieces of cooked vegetables. The only trouble is that you can't put such plaits in the dishwasher, you need to look for a more practical option.
Europe, and indeed Russia, did not recognize steaming for a long time, preferring a water bath to it. But in the era of "developed socialism" housewives were advised to cook fish in a double boiler, emphasizing the usefulness, the best taste and almost complete preservation of vitamins. To do this, Soviet women were offered a pot with a hole insert, on which food was placed. Even now, this archaic design can be seen on the shelves of home appliance stores.
As time went on, at the turn of the nineties, imported vacuum cleaners, juicers, microwaves, and other "signs of civilization"appeared in then — unusual supermarkets — mostly Korean and Japanese. People began to wonder how the "oppressed peoples" really lived; former Soviet citizens enjoyed reading about China, Korea, and Malaysia. This is how South-eastern cuisine came into our lives. Many dishes were steamed, so they began to bring to Russia hitherto unprecedented devices with the unassuming name "steamer". But the triumphant parade of steamers began relatively recently, when Russia was covered by the fashion for a healthy lifestyle.
Steamers are most often made of heat-resistant plastic, but you can also find metal ones. Plastic is much cheaper, but metal is more durable, more practical and better retains heat. At the same time, the plastic allows you to look at what is being cooked in baskets, monitor whether broccoli or string beans have fallen apart, and fantasize about decorating your favorite food on a platter. There are also steamers with glass bowls, the safest, but they are few and very expensive.
Some adherents of antiquity ask: "Are there still on the shelves of stores those same steamer pots in which you can cook on a gas stove?" Gas, they say, is much cheaper than electricity, and you can't get out of the habit-you want to cook manti just like your mother and grandmother. Yes, there are still such steamers, both classic and modern.
Double cookers of this type are suitable for all cookers, even induction. But is it worth buying them, or would it still be more practical to buy a regular, electric one? After all, it heats and cooks steam, not gas. The steamer "takes" about 1 kW; the most powerful — about 2 kW: even if you turn it on every day for about forty minutes, then in a month you will get 20-30 Kw, which is not so expensive for the opportunity to see how your favorite chicken breasts or tender, pink trout are prepared. Remember that if the stove is set up incorrectly, you can get carbon monoxide poisoning, that natural gas is explosive and requires excellent ventilation of the kitchen. Some, however, did not have a choice: gas is not carried out everywhere, and some developers prefer to supply their homes only with electricity. And in addition, most steamers work from the outlet: Koreans and Chinese do not really like to pay for quite expensive gas, so they try to do without it.
Do I need a steamer? Four pluses and one conditional minus sign
First, it saves a lot of time, because it can cook in automatic mode. All you need to do is put sliced meat and vegetables in it, fill in raw cereals, poke two or three buttons or turn the handle, calmly, without hassle, wait for half an hour until everything is cooked, and get juicy, delicious pieces of meat from the baskets, green peas in half with corn and crumbly fragrant rice that melt in your mouth. And it's very simple, even a child can handle it.
The oldest steamed dish is universally recognized as couscous. Groats for him are made from the well-known small semolina. Couscous made from other cereals is not nearly as popular and is almost not produced these days.
Secondly, steamed food is useful for anyone who is on a therapeutic diet or just losing weight. There are absolutely no carcinogens in it, which look predatory at us from the toasted, golden, crispy crust on fat pork or chicken leg. Vitamins in steamed dishes thrive, being preserved almost entirely, and the dishes themselves are easier to digest and do not disturb the sick stomachs of eternally busy students and bachelor ulcers who are used to "Doshirak" and sandwiches in a hurry.
Third, you can cook several dishes at the same time in a double boiler. No need to twitch, trying to turn the fish over in the pan with one hand, stirring the boiling porridge with the other, and even poking the potato with a fork, trying to determine how much it is left to gurgle in the pan. The natural color of the food will be preserved; oil splashes will not stain the surface of the stove and kitchen tables; your food will not burn or overcook, because it is monitored by automation; you will not have to scrape the dishes from carbon deposits either: you steam, not fry.
And, finally, in a double boiler, you can defrost food without fear that they will overheat and bake. In the same microwave oven, chicken skin often dries up from defrosting, and vegetables are covered with an unpleasant hard crust.
Among the disadvantages, I will note the taste of food, which may differ from the usual one. But "unusual" doesn't necessarily mean "bland"; if you don't have to follow the strictest diet, feel free to use spices, and you may like this food even more than the usual options that are fed up with it.