The Joys of Cooking: Eating Healthy- Steaming

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Eating Healthy- Steaming

Steaming is another healthy way of cooking food. It eliminates the use of fats or oils. Furthermore, with steaming you do not lose or breakdown much of the nutritious contents of food.

I have been trying to steam for a long time now, and only just this year have I gotten really into it. This started when one of the Asian food stores near where we live opened. I saw this beautiful bamboo steamer. It was a two-decker, about 7 -8 inches in diameter. I have been wanting to steam veggies and I have seen some of the Chinese restaurants that my family have been to use a bamboo steamer, especially when serving dim sum. So, instead of buying an aluminum or stainless steel steamer, I opted to buy a bamboo steamer. The price was a bit high for that size, I paid $22.95 plus tax.

I started cooking pork siomai and small pork dumplings. They were great! Unfortunately, I can only cook enough for my husband, daughter, and I. When we entertained, I wanted to steam more. Needless to say, there was a long wait for the seconds and thirds that my husband's family and some guests patiently waited for. I have decided since then that I needed a bigger one, which is why I got a much bigger bamboo steamer from San Francisco's Chinatown. I actually paid half the price of what I paid for the small one. Tell you how much they jack up prices when you are farther from the city.

I have been using the big steamer to steam "puto" (Filipino rice cakes), dumplings, siomais, vegetables, and fish. In this section, I will share with you my steamer recipes. Enjoy!

Steamed Fish with Ginger and Rice Wine

Ingredients:

2 pcs medium size fresh or frozen fillet fish (cod or catfish)

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp onion powder

1 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp rice wine

1/2 cup ginger (sliced in julienne)

1/2 cup scallions (green onion leaves)

Aluminum foil to wrap fish.

Instructions:

In a shallow tray, place 2 pieces of fresh or frozen fillet fish (cod or catfish). Rub on ground pepper, garlic salt, and onion powder top and bottom. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix soy sauce and rice wind.

Place water in a wok or boiler and bring it to a boil. The water should reach only midway.

Get a foil and place the fish and pour in the soy sauce and rice wine mixture. Note: use one foil per fish.

Drop the ginger and scallion on top of the fish before wrapping the foil. Close the foil and place inside the bamboo steamer.

Steam for 10 minutes or until done.

Serve with steamed rice or noodles.

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Late Bloomer

Every family has one-- a tradition all their own. Passed on from generation to generation. It's interesting that for every wonderful memories that I can think of, they often involve food. Most of the best times I've had growing up were spent in the kitchen. My mother had taught me well. She may not be the best cook in the world, but to me she was and always will be. However, she was not my first cooking teacher.

My adventure in cooking started at a tender age of four, perhaps younger, in our first home in San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines. I spent most of my time in the kitchen with my Nanay Epang, my maternal grandmother, who I fondly called Nanay. I remember our "dirty" kitchen outdoors, which was used to cook most of our meals. I believe Nanay was not a big fan of the electric stove that was in our indoor kitchen; therefore, often, come rain or shine, she would cook outdoors. She used wood, sometimes charcoal, to build the fire. I still remember playing with the ashes that accumulated under the three big rocks that were used as support to hold the pots and pans. She would use clay pots to cook viands such as stew, "paksiw na isda" (sour fish) pork "sinigang" (pork sour soup) and a pot made of steel to cook rice. She fried fish and meats as well as sauteed vegetables using a wok.

I stayed with her most of the time because she was the one who watched over me, especially whenever my mother was away due to church responsibilities. In a typical Filipino home, parents of one or both of the couples join them as part of the extended nuclear family. It was my Nanay and Tatay Gorio, my maternal grandfather, who I simply called Tatay, who stayed with us. However, most of what I can remember was my Tatay leaving for long periods. Some say he was a hobo, hopping on trains, going from town to town. My Tatay's adventures should be in a storybook, so I will leave them at that for now.

Going back to my childhood cooking experience with my Nanay, it was through her that I learned how to cook rice. Initially, I was only helping her collect some dried branches and wood to light the wood stove. Then, she would ask me to help her fan the flames using an "abanico" (a fan made of abaca leaves), sometimes a piece of a cardboard box, so the fire would not die. Yep, I was her little helper. This went on everyday, until one day, she decided I can help her cook rice. She showed me how to measure the rice with a cup and then add water directly from the faucet without using a cup. She taught me how to measure water by putting three middle fingers pointing down. She showed me the top of the water should line up with my middle fingers knuckle line. To this date, I still use this method. The rice always cooks right, not raw, not too hard, not sticky-- just right.

I watched her as she took care of other chores near the stove as the rice cooked slowly. I would ask her often if the rice is cooked yet, to which she patiently replied "not yet" for about a hundred times until it finally cooks. I remember always bragging about how I cooked with Nanay at the dinner table.

When I turned 8 years old, when my Nanay has passed away, I became the designated cook come dinnertime, since church functions would often keep my mother out late. I remember cooking rice, fried scrambled eggs and fried eggplants. Also, I guess since was the only girl (my sister has not been born yet) , it was customary to have a girl take on the kitchen chores. Although, I do recall both my "Kuyas" (older brothers) cooking rice and helping in the kitchen as well. Sometimes, I would cook dried fish (tuyo). Then, Mama ( my mother) started teaching me as well until well into my womanhood.

I used to help my mama cook. I remember the talks we had during our kitchen duty times. Usually, I was doing more prep work, like slicing and dicing veggies and meats. Washing fish, ridding them of internal organs. My mama was the "head chef" until the time my Papa retired-- he semmed to have taken the baton. When my mama was in the kitchen, the only food that I was assigned to cook were spaghetti, roasted chicken, macaroni salad and hotdogs. I usually would cook them for our year-end celebration. My mama taught me how to cook "sinigang na baboy" (pork sour soup), afritada, adobo, monggo, and other favorite Filipino foods; however, I managed to either burn them, overcook them, undercook them, etc. There were times foods ended up too bland and, sometimes, too salty. I could never get it right. My mama patiently trained me, but I was not a very good cook back then.

When I was in High School at CEU (all girls school), we have cooking classes in H.E. (Home Economics). I learned how to bake a little and make pineapple and strawberry jams. At least, my family claimed they were okay. I am sure they were just being nice so as not to hurt my feelings...ha-ha. As I reached college, I lived in Baguio City where I was surrounded by some great cooks from my father's side of the family. That was very intimidating. In other words, I avoided the kitchen like a plague come cooking time because I knew I would be teased due to my "bad" cooking.

Anyway, now that I am married and in my early 40s, I have now re-learned and rekindled my passion-- Cooking! Never have I imagined that I would enjoy cooking as much as I do now. I am proud to say, that I am getting better at it...and each day that I try a new recipe is like a welcome challenge for me. I think what ultimately helped me were those memories and lessons that I still remember from years gone by. My Nanay and Mama are both gone now, but I was able to learn cooking later on by remembering what they taught me decades ago.

I would not lie to you when I say, cooking for me is an outlet. However, the joys of cooking also ensure that I feed my family healthy foods , as well as, save a lot of money as opposed to eating out all the time.

Here's to a start of my own family tradition that I hope my daughter will follow suit...of course in her own time, like I did, even as a late bloomer.

Welcome to my cooking blog...I hope you will enjoy the recipes I have collected over the years. You are welcome to comment and send me your recipes so I can try them as well. Cheers!

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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Eating Healthy- Steaming

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