Steamer

Steamers come in many shapes and sizes – round with a basket; tall and narrow with an inner perforated ‘sleeve’ for long vegetables such as asparagus; a double saucepan with holes in the base of the upper pan; and round stacking baskets made of bamboo. There are also expandable steaming baskets on legs that can be used in any size of pan, but these tend not to last all that long. Any large stacking steamers with 2 or more layers, such as the decorative Chinese bamboo baskets, are extremely useful as you can steam different ingredients at the same time, removing a layer when cooked.