Tool: Steamers

No single type of steamer is used by everyone. Stacking bamboo steamers are common. They require only boiling water, and you can stack, one, two, three, or up to ten high. The stainless steel stacking steamers are sanitary and easy to clean, but they lack the unique flavor that bamboo imparts into the food. Professional kitchens have gas-fired steamers that look like chests of drawers. Larger operations have pressurized steamers that cook in seconds. If you don’t have the stacking steamers that are occasionally called for in this book, you can place a rack (or a few crisscrossed chopsticks) in the bottom a wok to create a shelf for a plate. Set the plate with the items to be steamed onto this rack, put water in the wok, cover, and voilà! You have a makeshift steamer.