Steaming food is just as important in Asian cooking as baking or roasting is in Western cooking. Chinese and other Asian cuisines feature steamed vegetables and proteins, but also steamed buns and breads, dumplings, and even desserts. Knowing how to steam food, therefore, is a crucial skill in any Asian kitchen.
But while the idea of cooking food using hot steam seems pretty straightforward, the task of steaming food or even just knowing how to set up a steamer for cooking may be a little muddy and foreign to some of our readers.
In this post, we’re going to go over how to steam food for a wide range of recipes. I include here three different ways to steam food, from a steaming setup you can probably already create in your kitchen without any special equipment, to a traditional bamboo steamer, to a more modern stainless steel steamer.
Why Steam Food:
My steamer serves two purposes in our kitchen: to cook and to re-heat. If you simply search the term “steamed” in our blog’s search bar, you will find a wide range of recipes: buns, veggies, meats, seafood, and desserts.
Steaming food requires little to no oil, making it a lighter cooking option, but it also is a necessary cooking method for many traditional Chinese dishes, from Hunan Steamed Fish with Salted Chilies to Cantonese Steamed Milk Pudding. Also, the majority of Dim Sum dishes––beloved by many––are steamed, like Crystal Dumplings, Har Gow, Spare Ribs with Black Beans, and Shumai.
Moreover, I’ve never really accepted the concept of using a microwave for cooking or reheating, so I rely on my steamer to reheat food as well. It’s a great way to quickly reheat any meat dish, rice dishes, and more. Here is my rule of thumb for reheating anything: oven-baked things should probably be toasted/reheated in the oven. Pan-fried items can be reheated in a pan with a little oil, and pretty much everything else can be reheated in a steamer.
I steam food daily, to heat up leftover rice, to steam yams when I’m looking to be healthy, or to steam some Chinese sausage along with my cured pork belly (which is what we had for dinner tonight!). Really, I can’t live without my steamer!
Here are some examples of my favorite steamed recipes on the blog:
- Steamed Lotus Leaf Buns (so versatile, you can fill them with practically anything!)
- Steamed Ribs with Sticky Rice (the flavor of juicy pork ribs infuse the sticky rice)
- Steamed Eggplant, Hunan-Style (a delicious appetizer before any meal)
- Steamed Pork with Rice Powder (Fen Zheng Rou) (doesn’t get more traditional than this one)
- Cantonese Custard Buns (one of Sarah’s all-time favorite things)
- Steamed Chicken with Mushrooms (a light, easy dish perfect with steamed rice and a stir-fried leafy green vegetable)
How to Steam Food:
The purpose of this post is not to sell you on expensive steamers. As I mentioned earlier, I’m going to share a few common steamer set-ups with you––all of which I use in my kitchen, and how I’ve taught my own girls to steam food in their apartment kitchen.
Here are three different ways to steam food:
Steamer Set-up #1: A Pot (or Wok) with Lid and Heat-proof Dish
You don’t need any special equipment to steam food. A pot with a lid works just fine, especially when it comes to reheating food.
For this steamer set-up, you’ll need:
- A pot or wok with a lid
- A heat-proof dish that can fit inside the wok or pot
- Something to prop up the dish above the water, like a metal steam rack or a clean metal can
There are metal steam racks or stands that you can buy for just a few dollars, but you can also use a heat-proof bowl or an empty steel can (next time you use a can of tomatoes or beans, carefully wash out the can and save it for this purpose) to prop up the dish. Larger, wider cans work better for this purpose, because they provide a more stable surface to put your food on. Sometimes, even if I have a metal steaming rack, I will also use a can to raise the food higher above the water, especially if I’m going to be steaming for a long time and need to use more water.
You can do this in a regular pot:
Or a wok:
Here’s an example of a setup using a can:
Simply fill a pot with 2 inches of water (or a little more depending on how long you need to steam the food), and put a steaming rack or empty can in the center of the pot to set your plate of food on. You can even use a heat-proof bowl.
Make sure that any plate/dish you’re using to hold the food is heat-proof. Another thing to consider is whether or not your dish should have a rim. If you’d like to save any liquid from steaming (which is usually the case when steaming proteins like chicken), make sure your dish has a rim to keep the liquid in. A pyrex pie dish, or other dishes safe for oven use, will work well.
Once the dish of food is positioned on your rack over the water, cover the lid. Note that there must be enough space between the outer edges of the dish and the sides of the pot so the steam can come up and cook the food. Simply turn up the heat to medium/medium high to bring the water to a simmer, and your food will steam!
When we travel in the RV or go camping, this method comes in handy for all our steaming needs, since we only have basic kitchen tools to work with on the road. On one final note, while this method works in a regular large pot, it works especially well in a wok with a lid, because woks have a larger diameter than normal pots and can therefore fit large plates of food for dishes like steamed whole fish. Also, wok lids tend to be more concave than regular pot lids, creating a dome inside the wok with more room for the steam to circulate above the food.
Steamer Set-up #2: A Stainless Steel Steamer
I steam food so often that to me, owning a stainless steel steamer is a no brainer. It’s a user-friendly tiered steamer that will allow you to steam either a single level of food, or to use three different tiers for big batches of buns/dumplings or cooking several different steamed dishes at once.
I like this type of steamer because it’s easy to set up, very easy to clean, and you can make a large volume of food in it. Simply put a few inches of water in the bottom of the steamer, and set up however many tiers you like. You can either place heat-proof dishes of food on the tiers as you would in Steamer Setup #1…
Or you could line the tiers (which have holes in them to allow the steam to come up) with cabbage leaves or parchment paper and place buns or dumplings directly on top.
The one downside of this type of steamer is that condensation can collect on the lid and drip down on your food. It’s a relatively minor concern for many steamed dishes, but for steamed buns, breads, and cakes, it can be a downside.
Steamer Set-up #3: A Bamboo Steamer
I like to use bamboo steamers the most. The biggest upside is that the bamboo steamer cover does not collect condensation, so I never have to worry about water dripping onto steamed buns and cakes to alter their texture or appearance.
To use a bamboo steamer, simply place it in a wok with enough water to come up above the bottom rim of the steamer about a quarter inch or so. This is the only downside of using a bamboo steamer––it’s a little bit less fool-proof.
The bamboo steamer must sit in water at all times to prevent the bottom rim from getting scorched, but you can’t overfill the water, or it’ll touch the bottom of the inside bed of the steamer and therefore the food on top of it. This means you have to keep an eye on it, and keep adding boiling water as needed as the water in the wok evaporates. This can be a little bit troublesome for long steaming processes.
However, if you have both a stainless steel steamer AND a bamboo steamer, you can remedy this issue if your bamboo steamer can fit in the bottom tier of the stainless steel steamer.
You can buy bamboo steamers in all kinds of sizes, but I find that a 10-inch steamer is the one I most often use.
Some Final Notes on How to Steam Food
- Some people like to use metal steamer baskets to steam food. While this type of steamer basket may be great for steaming loose vegetables like broccoli florets, it’s not as versatile as the other steamer setups I’ve mentioned above, which is why it didn’t quite make the list. I do own one of these, but I rarely use it!
- What I do consider to be an essential tool for any of the steamer setups above, however, is a plate gripper like this one. This tool resembles a pair of tongs, and it essentially allows you to grab the rim of a hot plate to remove it safely from the steamer without having to use your hands or fingers. It also allows you to life the plate straight up out of the steamer, without having to angle the plate at all or jostle the food on the dish, which may slip off the plate if you attempt it any other way! (Bill once steamed a plate of fish and tofu, turned around too fast while holding it, and everything went flying onto the floor!) Note that if your steaming dish has sides but no graspable rim, you won’t be able to use this tool with it.
- In any steaming situation, there will be boiling or simmering water involved. The water level is very important to pay attention to. When the water boils, it will bubble upwards––always make sure that your food is high enough above the water such that the bubbling water can’t touch the food during steaming. Likewise, be careful not to use too little water, or the water can evaporate completely before the food is done steaming, scorching the bottom of your pot or steamer. If a recipe asks for 1 hour of steaming, you will need at least 2 to 3 inches of water in your steamer, though it will also depend on how high your cooking heat is and how fast the water is evaporating.
- When adding water during steaming (in the case of using a bamboo steamer especially), use boiling water to keep the water temperature consistent. Using cold water will make the water stop boiling, interrupting the steaming process.
- Remember, when steaming anything, that steam cooking your food is extremely hot, and it can be dangerous. Be very careful when opening the lid of any steamer, as the hot steam escaping can burn your skin. Also be careful when removing anything from the steamer.
- For me, steaming is always done on stove, and never in the oven because it’s not an efficient use of energy.
And that’s it! Three simple methods to steam food. Any other questions on steaming technique? Let us know in the comments!
How to Steam Food: 3 Ways to Set Up a Steamer
Ingredients
Steamer Set-up #1
- A pot or wok with a lid
- A heat-proof dish that can fit inside the wok or pot
- Something to prop up the dish above the water (like a metal steam rack or a clean metal can)
Steamer Set-up #2
- A stainless steel steamer
Steamer Set-up #3
- A bamboo steamer
Instructions
- Select your favorite method of steaming depending upon what you have on hand in your kitchen arsenal.
- Select your favorite steamed dish.
- Cook and enjoy!
Can you use steamer trays to cook previously frozen items instead of boiling? Your won tons for instance.
Sure you can, Iris, but the problem with steaming frozen wonton/dumpling is that their wrappers become chewy and slightly dry, different than boiling.
In what instances would one place a protein straight onto a trivet vs. on a plate to steam? I know you mentioned using something with edges for chicken to retain the juices, but what about steamed fish? Some recipes on other sites say to steam straight on a trivet but I see some saying to steam on a plate.
Hi Tiffany, I think steaming on a plate is much more convenient for most foods that get soft and can fall apart after cooking (like a fish or tofu or items where you do want to retain and use the juices/liquids). Things that we steam right on the rack or trivet are sweet potatoes or any root vegetable and corn.
Hi Tiffany, you should definitely steam fish on a plate. Have a look at our steamed fish posts, whole and fillet.
Hi, may I know how wide is your bamboo steamer for the baos in the photo? Thanks!
Bamboo Steamer comes a few sizes. My is about 9″ wide.
Hello,
Did you place your large rectangular container used for the radish cake in the wok?
Hi Sebastien, for radish cake, yes, we usually put the loaf pan in our metal steamer, or on a metal steamer rack in our wok.
I usually eat a “tamal” food wrap up on banana leaf. I think chinese use lotous leaf also wrap up with sweet rice, The question is, can I wrap up with the banana leaf the sweet rice and mix with meat, sausage and vegetables and put it on the steam rack, will cook OK? Mario Thanks
Question, the sweet rice wrap up will banana leaf will cook the rice? thanks
Hi Mario, yes, check out this recipe for guidance! https://thewoksoflife.com/dim-sum-sticky-rice-lotus-leaf-wraps-w-chicken-lo-mai-gai-luo-mi-ji/. We use lotus leaves there, but it should work similarly with banana leaves.
Judy can I use chicken instead of pork ribs
Thanks for your valuable tips. Can I steam the pork buns using the 2 layers at the same time without switching the layers and will it cook the same way?
Yes, Diane! No need to switch the layers.
5 Stars for this and the whole website. I love it and the family and friends I cook for love it even more. Everything thing you guys post just works.
On steaming, many years ago I lived and worked as a photographer in Hong Kong and we had a studio cook making lunch every day – lucky us. Any time she needed to steam something on a plate she simply put a pair of chopsticks across the bottom of the wok and rested the plate on top of them. It’s the technique I use to this day.
I also lived in Atlantic City after my HK days so I like the Jersey references too.
Best wishes, Keep safe
Thanks so much for your kind words, Jeff! Yes, that chopstick trick is a great one! I find that it does depend on the shape of your chopsticks (thicker square bamboo ones work better), and obviously you shouldn’t use plastic ones, but this is a great reminder of an easy trick that many Chinese cooks use at home. :)