How to cook steam cutlets without a steamer. How to steam vegetables

Today, more and more people are switching to a proper and healthy diet. If you are one of them, then you often had to come across various recipes for steamed dishes. But unfortunately, not everyone can afford to purchase an electric steam cooking device, so sooner or later the question may arise,?

V Soviet time the cooks got used to steaming almost all dishes without a steamer: chicken and meat cutlets, vegetables and fish, casseroles and more. As a result of such heat treatment, the dishes are low-calorie, ideal for young children and people on a diet. Therefore, below you will see how to replace the steamer at home.

The most affordable option is to cover a pan of the required diameter with gauze folded in several layers. You securely fasten the ends of the gauze (you can use a linen elastic for this purpose) and hide them inside the pan. Cover the saucepan with a lid or a basin of a suitable diameter. This way you can cutlets and vegetables.

If you don't have gauze at hand, then you can use two pots of different diameters (choose either enameled or stainless steel dishes). Put fish, cutlets or vegetables (pre-cut as you like) into a saucepan of small diameter, pour in a small amount of broth or water.

Pre-boil the water in a large saucepan (draw in about a third or half of the pot of water, depending on the size of the smaller container) and place a small saucepan over the boiling water. Now cover everything and cook your dish until tender. This is the easiest way how to replace a steamer at home.

You can use a colander instead of cheesecloth or a small saucepan. Steam without a steamer in this way you can rice, vegetables, fish or steamed cutlets for twenty minutes to half an hour (depending on the selected meat and fish).

Steamed vegetables are cooked very quickly: in ten to twenty minutes you will receive a tasty and healthy dish with a minimum of lost vitamins and minerals.

Tips and recipes for steaming homemade meals without a steamer.

In the kitchen of a modern hostess, you can find many electronic assistants to facilitate the preparation of various dishes. It is enough to throw in the semi-finished products, select the required mode and you can do other household chores.

But the household appliances that are needed at a certain moment are not always at hand. What to do, if necessary, to steam the dish, but there is no steamer? Do not worry, after reading the proposed article, it will not be difficult to solve the problem.

How can you replace a steamer at home?

Consider the most primitive way of having those kitchen utensils that are available in every home.

1. Preparing a voluminous pan
2. Pour half of the water into it
3. Cover with 2-3 layers of gauze
4. We fasten it tightly with a thick thread so that it sags a little without touching the water
5. We put prepared blanks on the fabric
6. Close the lid
7. Our own steamer is ready
8. Cooking time depends on the selected food

How to steam food in a saucepan?

• A very good steaming insert is sold in stores
• It has legs and a handle
• The compact structure made in the form of folding petals is very convenient
• It is not expensive
• The device is convenient to use

1. Insert the insert into the pot of water
2. We put on it the semi-finished products necessary for cooking
3. Close the lid tightly
4. We cook depending on the individual characteristics of the food being prepared

How to cook steamed cutlets in a colander?

• No steamer can replace a metal colander
• It is better to cook cutlets yourself, since semi-finished products purchased in the store can fall apart from steam

1. Minced beef and pork - 250 g each
2. Bow - 1 head
3. Chicken egg (fresh) - 1 pc.
4. White loaf - 200 g
5. Milk - 150 ml
6. Salt and pepper to taste

Progress:

• Soak pieces of bread in milk
• Chop the onion
• Mix with minced meat
• Squeeze the softened bread from excess liquid, add to the minced meat
• We break the egg there
• Salt, pepper
• We beat off the whole mass well
• We form cutlets
• Pour water into a saucepan with a slightly larger colander diameter so that it does not touch its bottom
• We spread semi-finished products in one layer
• Cover with a lid
• Cook for 25-45 minutes depending on the size of the cutlets

How to steam manti, vegetables, chicken pieces, meat, fish?

You can prepare any of the products in question in any of the above ways.

Consider several cooking features:

• Before placing the manti on any device, grease it with butter so that later on the finished product can be easily removed.
• Leave some distance between the semi-finished products so that they do not stick together
• Stack all workpieces in one layer
• Cut large pieces into small ones, as steaming is a very long process and too large pieces may not cook.
• When cooking fish, add tea or spices to the water to remove the specific fishy odor

How to steam a steam omelet without a steamer?

You will need products:

1. Eggs - 2 pieces
2. Sour cream - 2 tsp
3. Drinking water - 2. tbsp. l.
4. A pinch of salt and soda
5. Butter - 5 g

Progress:

• Beat all ingredients, except for fat, thoroughly with a fork.
• We take any glass, silicone, ceramic or any other container suitable for heat treatment. These can be special baking dishes or bowls, etc.
• Lubricate them with oil
• Pour out the prepared mass
• Pour water into the pan
• Install the colander
• We put tins with omelet on it
• Cover with foil or a saucepan lid
• Cook on a slow boil for 15-20 minutes

How to steam rice without a steamer?

Technological process:

• Fill the required amount of rice with cold water
• We rub it with our hands, rinse with water until the white bloom disappears
• Leave to swell for 40-50 minutes
• Then we drain the water
• Dip a colander into a pot of boiling water so that it does not touch the liquid
• Pour cereals there
• Close the lid carefully
• Cooking time 20-25 minutes
• Salt ready-made rice or serve with soy sauce

How to steam your first vegetable feed without a steamer?

• For the first vegetable feed, we choose the freshest products without spots and other damage.
• In the baby period up to a year, vegetable puree is recommended from:

1. Zabachkov
2. Broccoli
3. Cauliflower
4. Kohlrabi
5. Green beans
6. Carrots
7. Pumpkin
8. Potato

• We wash the selected vegetable product well, peel it if necessary
• Pour water into a saucepan
• We put a colander there or pull on a two-layer gauze
• Put prepared vegetables on top
• Cook until tender
• Wipe through a sieve or beat on a blender
• We do not put any additional additives. Dilute ready-made mashed vegetables to enhance the taste with vegetable broth, breast milk or the formula used for feeding

Steam cooking without a steamer: tips

Basic requirement:

1. Any structure should be built convenient, reliable and safe
2. Take precautions when cooking in a DIY steamer - hot steam can cause severe burns
3. Do not try to handle a colander or special insert with your bare hands. Use oven mitts or use cooking spatulas
4. When using a gauze attachment, keep in mind that it gets wet and dangerously hot.
5. Fasten the gauze tightly, and hide the tails up inside the "double boiler"
6. Do not use colanders or plastic dishes to steam any food without a steamer
7. Do not steam pasta - it sticks together and overcook
8. Beans should not be steamed - this is a very long process, even if they are soaked beforehand.
9. It is forbidden to cook with steam raw mushrooms and offal - they require preliminary boiling

• Since steamed food retains its beneficial properties and is as harmless as possible, it is suitable for dietary, children's and healthy nutrition. Such food is not only useful, but also convenient and practical. technological process... For example, it is not common for omelet and porridge to burn even in a homemade double boiler, which means that they require a minimum of attention. When heating the soup on such a device, you do not need to be careful so that it does not boil over.
• Thus, without having an industrial steamer, you should not give up this cooking method. At home, it is quite acceptable to make it with your own hands, using the methods suggested above and prepare tasty, healthy and healthy food.

Video: How to steam without a steamer

It is believed that steamed vegetables are much healthier and contain more vitamins than fried or boiled vegetables. When fried, foods accumulate many harmful substances and lose their beneficial properties, and vitamins disappear during cooking. If you lead a healthy lifestyle and prefer healthy foods, then the steamed vegetable stew recipe will come in handy for you.

Photo by Shutterstock

Oddly enough, the Chinese gave the world the method of cooking steamed dishes. This is now a feature of Asian cuisine is the frying of products, and just a few centuries ago, China did not know any oils or pickles. cooked by the Chinese in large pans with a rounded bottom. Bamboo grates were placed in a frying pan in several tiers, and vegetables and fish were laid on them. There was water at the bottom of the pan; it evaporated and cooked food.

In fact, the principle of the modern double boiler has not changed. However, in order to eat tasty and healthy, it is not necessary to purchase an expensive device. You can be smart and make a steamer from available tools.

DIY steamer

There are several different ways to steam food. The simplest and most correct: pour water into a saucepan, put a colander or a metal sieve on top, lay out the ingredients, be sure to close the lid tightly and wrap it with a towel to preserve the precious heat. When the water in the pot boils, the steam will heat the food up and cook it until tender.

Second way: put in a large pot with water, a grate of a suitable size, so that it is above the level of the filled water. Put a dish with vegetables on the wire rack, close the pan tightly with a lid and wait for cooking.

An ordinary steamer has become the prototype of modern combi ovens - multifunctional ovens, where the speed of cooking is still achieved thanks to the circulation of hot steam.

A more difficult way: attach a thin cotton cloth around the edge of the pan, you can use gauze. Pour boiling water through the cloth, but so that the poured water does not reach the cloth, then put the food on the cloth and cover the pan with thick foil.

Stew recipe

Perhaps the most famous steamed dish is steamed cutlets. They were readily prepared in Soviet canteens and served to the working people. By the way, the cutlets were often quite tasty, which once again proves that healthy does not mean tasteless! An equally tasty and healthy side dish is steamed vegetable stew.

You will need: - zucchini - 400 g,

Carrots - 3 pcs.,

Peeled potatoes - 2 pcs.,

Bell pepper- 2 pcs.,

Tomatoes - 3 pcs.,

Cucumber - 2 pcs.,

Spices to taste.

First, wash and peel all vegetables well. Cut the courgette and cucumbers into 0.5 mm slices. Cut sweet peppers and tomatoes into strips correctly, it is convenient and will be beautifully combined in a dish with other vegetables. Cut the potatoes and carrots into cubes.

Many people are not very enthusiastic about steamed food, and they can be understood: choosing between a juicy kebab straight from the barbecue and steamed broccoli, it is difficult to make a voluntary choice in favor of a green vegetable. Steaming silently is sometimes criticized even by supporters of a healthy diet - they say that food cooked in a double boiler is, of course, healthy, but it would be great if it were also as tasty as fried food. Meanwhile, a not-so-expressive taste - a common complaint about this cooking method - is far from a necessary steaming result.

Building on a theme I started a few years ago, I want to look at steaming as a cooking method that is as complete as frying or grilling, but also healthier. I hope this article will be interesting both for those who have been with steam for a long time, and for those who believe that steaming is the last refuge of people who are faced with a difficult choice between delicious food and their own health. How to steam properly, how to make the taste of dishes cooked in a double boiler brighter and more intense, what stereotypes about steaming are time to write off for scrap - read about all this below. But you will have to start from the well-known, but still vital basics.

What is steam cooking?

Steam cooking is very close to conventional cooking, the only difference is that the temperature transmitter in this case is not boiling water, but hot steam. This is where the fundamental difference between the two related methods lies: since steaming does not imply contact with liquid and the dish is cooked exclusively using steam, this allows you to preserve most of the substances contained in products - both useful and flavoring. If we talk about the benefits, then the content of folic acid and vitamin C in products after steaming is reduced by 15%, while during conventional cooking it decreases by 35% and 25%, respectively - what can we say about other methods of heat treatment!

I also said about flavoring substances for a reason: if a piece of meat or fish is immersed in boiling water, apart from the finished product, you will also get, in most cases, too light to be of serious culinary value. Nevertheless, this broth is a sure sign that the taste and aroma compounds have passed into the water, which means that they are no longer in the product itself. Often they try to avoid this by using ready-made broth for boiling, but if there is an easier way: steaming. Without a doubt, steaming is the most delicate of the traditional culinary methods, and second only to the modern ones.

There are many different devices for steaming, from Chinese bamboo steamers to modern electrical appliances, however, in principle, you do not need any complicated or expensive equipment - you can easily "figure out" a steamer using a saucepan with a colander placed in it, which is covered with a lid ... These are the three really essential components of a steamer:

• container where water will boil;
• a stand for products that will let the rising steam through;
• and a lid so that the steam does not go outside, but circulates inside.

To steam food, bring the water to a boil, then place the food steamer over it and cover with a lid to circulate the steam and heat the food evenly. Originally, steam cooking, like most other health benefits, was invented in the east, which is why Chinese bamboo steamers are often used, which are installed in a wok over boiling water. These steamers have several levels - the baskets are stacked one on top of the other, so that you can cook different foods at the same time. I also use a bamboo steamer - in addition to the fact that it does its job perfectly, it also looks very stylish, so you can serve ready-made meals right in the steamer. In addition, in the store you can buy an inexpensive metal steamer or look for a more modern device - electric pressure cookers, multicooker and other appliances usually have a built-in steaming function.

There are also more exotic methods of steaming, for example, this: products that require a particularly delicate approach (say, swallow's nests) are placed in a ceramic vessel with water, and this vessel, in turn, is placed in a double boiler, as a rule, for several hours. Needless to say that this approach - in some ways, by the way, a predecessor - was also invented by the Chinese? ..

What can you steam?

Oddly enough - almost anything! If you think that only fresh vegetables can be steamed, then you should know that rice, fish, various dumplings and buns and even meat are steamed in Chinese cuisine. As for dumplings, this type of cooking has spread throughout Central Asia, it is enough to recall the somewhat closer manti, for cooking which they use the mantle - in fact, the very same Chinese multi-storey double boiler, only slightly modified. In China or Korea, you can try steamed buns, both regular and stuffed with vegetables, pork or beef: the dough turns out to be the most ordinary, except perhaps without a brown crust, for obvious reasons. In addition, Chinese cuisine invites us to steam pork ribs, duck, chicken, goose, eggs, as well as vegetables, rice and more.

Fish, which is considered a healthy food in its own right, is also often steamed: in the recipe collection that concludes this article, you will find recipes for steaming whole fish as well as fillets. Of course, you can cook seafood in the same way, and steamed shrimp will have a richer taste than boiled in water.

However, what is Asia to us? Let's take more understandable and familiar products, say, the same potatoes. If we are all used to boiled potatoes, then European and American chefs and housewives mostly steam them. The reasons are the same as described above - more of their own taste and nutrients remain in the potatoes, which otherwise go into the water. The same goes for other vegetables: if you don't cook broth, there is absolutely no reason to cook vegetables in water instead of steam. Apparently, in our country, until recently, no one was interested in steaming - there are no other clear reasons that we are used to cooking vegetables for or Olivier in water, I cannot imagine.

Steam cooking: not only healthy, but also delicious

I hope that a couple of it turns out healthy meals, I have already convinced you. But what about the main disadvantage of steaming - the pale taste of finished products? .. To begin with, its significance is somewhat exaggerated - steamed dishes have a richer taste than those boiled in water, for the reasons already described above. And if you take on board some of the tips outlined in this article, your meals will not only be healthy, but also delicious.

• Experiment with spices and herbs. In such dishes, their taste comes to the fore, and in order to reveal the aroma of spices, they can be pre-calcined in a dry frying pan. This, of course, does not apply to salt, but you should not neglect it either: as you know, it has the property of enhancing the taste of seasoned products.
• Marinate food before cooking. By adding to the marinade, soy or other seasonings with a strong own taste, you thereby enrich the taste of the products that you plan to send to the steamer.
• Flavor the water. Of course, using a rich broth for steaming would be insane waste, but adding bay leaves or dried herbs to boiling water will cook food in fragrant steam, and this will affect the taste.
• Finishing touches. If you often eat steamed foods, don't skip sauces. The sauce doesn't have to be complicated - mix herbs, garlic, juice and lemon zest with olive oil, or make pesto by adding nuts and whisking in a blender until smooth.
• Cook in a sauce or marinade. This is also possible - place the fish in a deep bowl, sprinkle it with soy sauce, season with ginger and green onions and put the plate in a double boiler: such a fish will have everything useful properties steamed product, but no one will reproach her for its inexpressive taste.

This is perhaps the most gentle cooking method invented over the centuries of culinary technology.

The product is evenly heated by moist steam, and the food retains its nutrients and natural taste as much as possible.

Technically, this is obscenely simple. For example, like this. A small amount of water is poured into any saucepan of a suitable size - usually no more than a quarter of the volume, but not less than 250 ml. Then the dishes are put on fire, the water is brought to a boil. And then a banal metal colander or the same sieve is installed on the pan, where the product prepared for heat treatment lies - washed, peeled, sliced, seasoned or even wrapped in cling film. | Cover the saucepan with the colander with a lid - that's all. It seems to be. It's actually not that simple. The steam can get very seriously burned. Therefore, the lid of the saucepan with a colander or sieve (or the lid of a double boiler) must be opened away from you. Steaming food always takes longer than in liquid. Here the first challenge awaits us. Long cooking times give the chef the illusion that the product cannot be re-cooked in this way. As far as possible. So let's be careful. And about everything in order.
Cultural revolution

Like most kitchen gadgets and food processing methods, the Chinese invented steaming. And of course they don't use any metal colander. Anyone who has seen a movie from Chinese life, where they not only fight, but also eat, must have noticed the characteristic straw baskets that are placed one on top of the other. This is a Chinese steamer. Such baskets are woven from bamboo straw. The lower one is placed in a wok with boiling water, and the rest are placed one on top of the other. The pan's convex bottom allows for different sizes of steamers, and the beveled edges make it easy to add a little more water if needed. So you can cook several different dishes, or you can cook one.

Vegetables, with the exception of eggplants, are not accepted for steaming in China (by the way, in vain). But freshly caught fish is generally cooked exclusively for steam. And also - a variety of Chinese dumplings.

The steamer should be positioned so that the boiling water is 2-3 cm below its bottom, and the product being cooked is no closer than 2-3 cm from its walls. If the food is juicy, it should be cooked in a deep bowl so that the taste and aroma are not lost. If it is not going to drain with juices, you can put it directly into a double boiler. Do not cook in more than two tiers of a bamboo steamer. In the third, upper tier, the steam is not hot enough for cooking, it is only suitable for heating food. By the way, reheating food in a double boiler is convenient and correct, because in this case the food never dries out.

Steaming takes place over low heat. You can put several coins on the bottom of the container with water; as long as there is enough water, they will ring; the ensuing silence will say that it is time to add boiling water.

The main disadvantage of using bamboo steamers is the need to ensure that the edges of the lower basket in contact with the hot wok are not burnt. Caring for a Chinese invention is simple: after using it, you must immediately wash it with hot water and wipe it dry. And since bamboo steamers are usually very pretty, sometimes food is served right there.

Evgenia (Tressa) From the point of view of practicality, it is much more interesting to use the Central Asian modification of the steamer, known to the entire population of the former Soviet Union as a mantle. It is made, as a rule, of aluminum and cannot burn. In addition to manti, you can cook anything in it. The product that needs to be heated more - meat, fish - is placed in the lower tier, and a dish that needs less heating - for example, vegetables - in the upper one. ... Thai jasmine rice, steamed, is very different in consistency and smell from simmering in a pot of water. Thais claim that it tastes better.
Recipes
Fish and seafood platter with apple sauce
Poche egg with spinach and spicy butter
Steamed lean lamb with marinated mozzarella and pear
Orange pannacotta with chocolate and strawberry shavings
In search of excellence

In addition to conventional steam cooking, which takes place at normal atmospheric pressure, there is also steam cooking at an increased pressure. This is how food is prepared in industrial boilers and in household pressure cookers.

Although boiling water can never reach a temperature higher than 100? C, when the lid of the pressure cooker is closed, the pressure increases and the steam temperature reaches 121? C. Thus, food is cooked on average three times faster than in the usual way, in boiling water. The liquid does not evaporate from the pressure cooker, so only half a glass of boiling water is enough.

To steam food in a pressure cooker, they are placed on a special stand, included with any "speed pot", so that they are processed with steam and not boiled in water. It is important that the product occupies no more than two-thirds of the volume of the pressure cooker. And one more thing: before use, bring the lid of the pressure cooker to a light source and look into the steam hole; it must be closed. And, of course, you need to make sure that the hole does not get clogged during the cooking process. This is the end of the safety precautions.

If you are cooking tender vegetables in a pressure cooker, after the end of the process, put it in cold water - this will cool down faster and the vegetables will not be overcooked.

But steam cooking at atmospheric pressure has also undergone improvements. Cooking in a modern electric steamer is much more convenient than using a saucepan and a colander. This appliance is simpler than an iron. At the base is a container in which water is brought to a boil using a heating element. One or more steam baskets are installed on top, the top of which is closed with a lid. Condensation and juice flowing down from the food are collected in a special tray.

On the basis of these juices, you can, by the way, prepare a sauce for a dish. Moreover, the sauce will turn out to be very elegant - low-fat, without burnt pieces.

The possibility of steam cooking is provided in some models of microwave ovens, thermal processors and airfryer. They are more complicated than just steamers. The liquid necessary for the formation of vapor is poured, as a rule, into a special capsule; it heats up and steam fills the oven chamber. The sensors in the chamber monitor the temperature of the steam, its saturation, as well as the formation of condensation. As soon as the cooking conditions deviate from ideal, either ventilation is turned on, or another portion of steam comes in.

You can influence the taste of a steamed product by changing the composition of the vaporizing liquid. You can use a mixture of water with wine, beer, various decoctions, and add herbs to the water. And when cooking meat, a small amount of wine vinegar is added to the water.

An absolutely amazing result can be achieved by combining two techniques - cooking in a vacuum and steaming. The product is properly seasoned (“as it should” in this case means that all seasonings and spices are added at once, up to sauces and evaporated wine), placed in an airtight bag, evacuated and placed in a double boiler. Cooking takes place only due to internal

Evgenia (Tressa) Pros and Cons

The main argument in favor of using this ancient technology has always been its sheer usefulness. No carcinogens, excess fats, carbohydrates, and at the same time - high digestibility of the prepared product, maximum preservation of all nutrients and minerals.

The main argument against is a very inexpressive taste. But nothing prevents you from combining several cooking methods in one dish. For example, serve steamed vegetables with steamed fish or even puff pastry with vegetables. And for steamed meat - some delicate sauce. Also, by the way, you can steam it - many classic sauces this is the only way they prepare themselves, completely unable to endure direct contact with fire. Another argument in favor of steam.

Tags: How to steam vegetables without a steamer

Welcome to our channel! Here we share the secrets of how to cook quickly, tasty, and most importantly ...

In Soviet times, cooks got used to steaming almost all dishes without a steamer: chicken and meat cutlets, vegetables and fish, casseroles ...

how to steam if there is no steamer? | Topic author: Sergey

I understand, but my colander is only plastic ...

Nikolay In a large saucepan with a small amount of water, put a plate or an enamel dish upside down. On top you put the same with the food that needs to be cooked, put it on the fire and close it tightly with a lid. This is a colander-free option. In principle, every household should have a perforated insert suitable for pots of any size. It is inexpensive, but the benefits are significant.

Victor) Colander to help you!
You can cook in a regular saucepan under the lid by placing a colander in it. When steaming, add a little water to the bottom of the pan, from which steam is generated when heated.
And what are we cooking?
This is how you can weld RIS.
Pour 3/4 of the salted water into a wide saucepan, pull a linen napkin on top, tie its edges around the saucepan. Put on fire. As soon as the water boils, pour the rice onto a napkin, cover with a lid or an inverted plate on top. Spread some Gennady ghee. Simmer at a constant boil for about 30 minutes.

Vadim Put what you need to cook in a colander and put it on a wide saucepan of water over high heat. The water will boil off, steam will pass through the food and it will be ready.

Leonid you take a pot of water, when the water boils, put colo-slag with food on top, and cover with a lid :)) everything original is simple :))

Valery is poured into a saucepan with water, an ordinary colander is taken, food is laid down and covered with a lid. ALL

Put a colander on top of Artyom in a pot of water, but so that it does not touch the water that is poured into the pot. cover with a lid on top. here's a double boiler. Bon appetit. if there is foil at home, then you can bake food in foil, it will be almost like in a double boiler. the food is not fatty, but in its own juice.

Sasha You put in a saucepan, colander and cook

Nikita esli est mikrovolnovka to mojno v nei .. tolko polojit prodykt v celofan

Ivan Pour water into a deep saucepan, bring to a boil and use a colander. If it is not there, put something from a convenient dish on the bottom, I use glasses, I put a net on them. In a pinch, put on a shallow plate. Good luck!

Pavel plastic drushlag is fine, so go ahead and get ready

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