Cooking Methods: Steaming
Steaming refers to the process of cooking food in steam from boiling water. A steamer (wok or electric steamer or a colander) is mostly used. Steaming is considered safe and hygienic because food does not come into contact with water.
Foods cooked by steaming are mostly vegetables, fish,crab and potatoes. Pork, beef and goose are at times steamed. Steaming has several advantages over other methods of cooking. This does not mean steaming does not have disadvantages it has, but I'm going to talk about the advantages of steaming in this hub.
Advantages of Steaming
1. It can be used to cook food when you want lower fat content in food. For example you can steam vegetables rather than sauteing.
2. Steaming food retains about 99% of nutrients because the food does not come into contact with water and no nutrients are leached into the water.
3. Phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties are retained during steaming unlike other methods of cooking.
4 Steaming is ideal for cooking broccoli and cauliflower as these vegetables turn soggy when boiled.
5. There is no liquid movement to break food.
6. Two or more vegetables can be steamed at the same time as there would not be any cross flavor.
7. No straining of food is required after cooking.
Now you know the advantages of steaming. It's better to cook food by steaming rather than frying or boiling.