[2 - 2] Steaming has a PR problem. You're
[2 - 5] assuming like really bland, flavorless
[5 - 8] vegetables your doctor told you to eat.
[8 - 9] It's not that. Steaming is how
[9 - 11] professional chefs achieve light
[11 - 13] textures, really clean flavors, and
[13 - 15] really delicious results. And all you're
[15 - 19] going to need is water. This is steaming
[19 - 22] 101. Hi, I'm Eric. I'm a professional
[22 - 23] chef, and today I'm going to teach you
[23 - 27] how to harness the power of steam. It's
[27 - 29] an efficient method of heat transfer. It
[29 - 31] keeps your food really moist and
[31 - 33] delicious with great texture. It's
[33 - 35] healthy. There's no nutrient loss and
[36 - 38] it's [Applause]
[38 - 40] [Applause] delicious. Steaming versus boiling, they
[40 - 43] are different, but they both harness the
[43 - 45] power of water boiling. Boiling is
[45 - 48] pretty violent. Steaming gentle. You are
[48 - 50] mainly using conductive heat when you
[50 - 52] are boiling with water. Product that
[52 - 54] you're cooking is absorbing the energy
[54 - 56] from the boiling water directly. With
[56 - 58] steaming, you are using conductive and
[58 - 61] convective heat, and the water that is
[61 - 63] evaporating condenses back onto what
[63 - 65] you're cooking and releases a great deal
[65 - 67] of energy. It's more efficient this way.
[67 - 69] It transfers heat more quickly, and most
[69 - 71] importantly, because it's not in contact
[71 - 73] with the water, it is not taking
[73 - 74] anything from the product you're
[74 - 76] cooking. Steaming is an incredibly
[76 - 78] efficient method of heat transfer. The
[78 - 79] physics are very complicated, but just
[79 - 81] think about it this way. You can stick
[81 - 84] your hand into a 450°ree oven. It'll be
[84 - 86] fine for a few seconds. If you put your
[86 - 88] hand over a boiling tea kettle with all
[88 - 90] the steam coming out of the spout, you
[90 - 91] are going to hurt yourself and need to
[91 - 93] probably go to the doctor. So, we're
[93 - 94] going to cook broccoli two different
[94 - 96] ways. We're going to steam one. We're
[96 - 97] going to boil one and you're going to
[97 - 98] see the difference. I'm going to start
[98 - 100] by steaming broccoli. This is a metal
[100 - 102] steamer basket. It's a handy dandy
[102 - 104] design. It fits in any pot really. Open
[104 - 106] this guy up. It's going to fit nicely in
[106 - 107] the pan. We're going to start off with
[107 - 110] our broccoli stems. The broccoli stems
[110 - 112] are obviously tougher. Give it a little
[112 - 114] more cook time, a little more love. It's
[114 - 115] a really wonderful part of the
[115 - 117] vegetable. You don't actually want too
[117 - 119] much water. You just need about an inch
[119 - 121] or two. You obviously don't want it in
[121 - 122] contact with whatever you're touching,
[122 - 124] which is why steamer baskets keep things
[124 - 126] lifted. Other than that, you just need
[126 - 128] some sort of lid. You want the steam to
[128 - 130] be trapped to be condensing on itself.
[130 - 132] It's going to keep the relative humidity
[132 - 134] of the container higher, which is going
[134 - 135] to cook things more efficiently. My
[135 - 137] stems are looking good. Before I put my
[137 - 139] fuettes in, you want to arrange stuff
[139 - 142] evenly. Give them space for the steam to
[142 - 144] circulate. That's true for all things we
[144 - 146] steam. You need space for the steam to
[146 - 148] condense onto the product. So, can't
[148 - 150] crowd them too closely together. Add
[150 - 151] like a little bit of salt on top.
[151 - 154] Nothing crazy. Lid back
[154 - 156] on. Steaming. We obviously want
[156 - 158] something that has some texture but
[158 - 159] isn't mushy. So, I'm aiming for about 4
[160 - 161] minutes of steaming. All right. We have
[161 - 163] our boiled broccoli for just about the
[163 - 165] same amount of time. It has turned an
[165 - 167] army green. It's a lot softer. The
[167 - 169] fuettes are beginning to disintegrate,
[169 - 171] if we will. The stem's a lot softer. I
[171 - 175] mean, it's all right. And then here,
[175 - 177] steamed broccoli here. Bright green. The
[178 - 180] ferts are all still intact. Stem looks
[180 - 182] like it has some texture. It looks
[182 - 184] great. Dress it with just a bit of
[184 - 186] oyster sauce. You want real oyster
[186 - 188] sauce. It's worth spending the money on.
[188 - 189] You just need a little bit to really
[189 - 192] take your broccoli to the next level.
[192 - 194] Little bit of sesame seed. Super simple,
[194 - 197] really delicious, vibrant, good for you.
[197 - 198] This is a really versatile technique for
[198 - 200] all kinds of vegetables. You can do
[200 - 203] asparagus, bok choy. You're not leeching
[203 - 205] away nutrients and flavor to the water
[205 - 207] that you're going to dump down the sink.
[207 - 208] Uh it kind of keeps the integrity of the
[208 - 211] vegetable. It lets the vegetable be the
[211 - 214] vegetable it wants to be. So, steam your
[216 - 218] [Applause] vegetables. What we have here is a
[218 - 219] vegetables. What we have here is a bamboo steamer, and we're going to use
[219 - 221] it to make Cantonese style steamed fish.
[221 - 223] This is one of the great seafood recipes
[223 - 226] of the world. It's very simple. It's
[226 - 228] very healthy, and the steam is actually
[228 - 230] a key component here because the
[230 - 232] relative humidity and the temperature
[232 - 235] never really exceeds 212° Fahrenheit,
[235 - 236] the point of boiling, it's much more
[236 - 238] forgiving on the temperature of the
[238 - 240] fish, and it keeps it moist as it cooks.
[240 - 242] You can use the metal steamer, you can
[242 - 244] use any other sort of rig. There's a lot
[244 - 246] of ways to improvise a steamer, but this
[246 - 248] is my favorite. They're inexpensive,
[248 - 250] they're very easy to use, and they feel
[250 - 252] good. It feels like you're really doing
[252 - 253] some Chinese cooking. Just need some
[253 - 255] sort of vessel that fits the steamer to
[255 - 257] boil water in. You can stack steamers
[257 - 260] really, really high, making your already
[260 - 262] efficient cooking method even more
[262 - 263] efficient. Create a steam stack, steam
[264 - 266] tower. We are working with black sea
[266 - 269] bass. Wonderful colors, light flaky
[269 - 273] flesh, halibit, cod, bream. Any of these
[273 - 274] things would do great. I have about an
[274 - 277] inch of water. I'm going to get a plate
[277 - 279] here. I'm forming a bed of aromatics
[279 - 281] here. This serves a couple purposes.
[281 - 283] One, it raises the protein slightly so
[283 - 284] that the steam can circulate and
[284 - 286] condense on every surface. And then the
[286 - 289] moisture is conveying all those water-
[289 - 291] soluble aromomas and flavors onto your
[291 - 293] food. It's subtle, but it's a meaningful
[293 - 296] difference. Little bit of salt on both
[296 - 298] sides. And then I'm going to cook its
[298 - 300] skin up. I have shelene wine here. This
[300 - 302] is a rice wine. Huge cooking component
[302 - 304] in Chinese cuisine. We just need a
[304 - 306] little bit on top to just curf this
[306 - 309] flavor. It's very aromatic, floral, and
[309 - 311] we're just going to pop the lid on and
[311 - 312] we're going to steam a fish. While my
[312 - 314] fish is steaming, I'm going to make my
[314 - 317] seasoned soy sauce. You can buy this
[317 - 318] readymade in a bottle, but just to show
[318 - 320] you what's in it. It's a bit of blight
[320 - 323] soy sauce here. Need sugar to balance
[323 - 326] out the flavor of the soy. Some black
[326 - 329] vinegar, chinkyang vinegar, sesame oil,
[329 - 331] just a splash, and I like to add a
[331 - 333] little pinch of MSG. It's very well
[333 - 336] balanced and it pairs really well with
[336 - 338] white flesh fish. We've been steaming
[338 - 339] here for six, seven minutes. These are
[339 - 341] small fillets, so they happen pretty
[341 - 342] quickly. I'm just going to use a
[342 - 343] chopstick to kind of test the sides
[343 - 346] here. I judge fish more on texture than
[346 - 347] I do on temperature, unlike meat. We
[348 - 349] just want it to be nice and juicy and to
[349 - 352] fall apart. We're ready to go. Steam
[352 - 354] tongs. Inexpensive little contraption.
[354 - 359] Claw machine game. Look at that.
[359 - 361] Sick. Okay, the steaming here is very
[361 - 364] forgiving. It is extracting a lot of the
[364 - 366] gelatin in the fish. This is going to be
[366 - 369] really moist despite being a lean, flaky
[369 - 372] white fish. I got my seasoned soy sauce.
[372 - 373] Just going to spoon a little bit over
[373 - 376] here. I'm putting ginger and scallion on
[376 - 379] top here. And a bit of cilantro as well.
[379 - 381] And for a very last touch, we're going
[381 - 383] to put some boiling hot oil over top.
[383 - 386] Raw ginger and scallion and cilantro.
[386 - 387] Not super enjoyable, but just with a
[387 - 389] kiss of hot oil, you express and just
[389 - 392] gently wilt those vegetables. The oil
[392 - 394] flows down to the soy sauce, mixes all
[394 - 396] together and forms a vinegrett. And it's
[396 - 398] a really delicious way to eat a fish. So
[398 - 401] the oil is kind of mixing up with the
[401 - 403] soy sauce underneath. The fish is nicely
[403 - 405] cooked. So steaming yields really
[405 - 407] wonderful results. This is really nice,
[408 - 411] easy weekn night meal. Add it to your
[413 - 415] [Applause] repertoire. Here we have some frozen
[415 - 418] repertoire. Here we have some frozen store-bought shumai. The technology of
[418 - 420] frozen dumplings these days is highly
[420 - 421] advanced. There are restaurants that
[421 - 422] just buy these now. And I'm going to
[422 - 424] show you how to steam these properly.
[424 - 427] So, what I have down here are just tough
[427 - 429] exterior napa cabbage leaves. These are
[429 - 431] nature's non-stick layer for steaming.
[431 - 433] What we're looking for here is for the
[433 - 435] steam be able to circulate evenly across
[436 - 438] the entire surface of the dumpling. This
[438 - 440] is how you get dumpling dough to hydrate
[440 - 442] and cook correctly. Do not do this. Do
[442 - 444] not crowd them. Do not treat your
[444 - 445] dumplings like penguins on the ice,
[445 - 447] huddled together for warmth. Give them
[447 - 449] room to breathe. Cows on the pasture.
[449 - 452] The whole way that steam cooks food is
[452 - 454] that the steam condenses on the surface
[454 - 456] of the food and releases energy into it.
[456 - 458] If it's stuck up against something else,
[458 - 459] steam's not going to reach that part.
[459 - 461] It's not going to cook evenly. And this
[461 - 462] is true for pretty much anything you
[462 - 464] cook. Whether you're searing, you're
[464 - 465] roasting, or you're steaming. But
[465 - 466] definitely with steaming, really
[466 - 468] important. If you're steaming crab legs
[468 - 471] or lobsters, you can't jam them all in
[471 - 472] there. All right? You got to give them
[472 - 474] space to breathe. Let them live. I would
[474 - 476] steam these for 7 to 10 minutes. Then
[476 - 477] we're going to eat them hot out the
[478 - 479] steamer. Dangerously hot. All right,
[480 - 482] these are ready to eat. All that's left
[482 - 485] is to literally risk my life by eating a
[485 - 490] super hot, freshly steamed
[498 - 498] The beautiful thing about steaming is
[498 - 500] that there is a natural built-in
[500 - 501] temperature control because of the
[501 - 504] boiling point of water. It cannot exceed
[504 - 507] 212° F. For any of you who ever made
[507 - 509] creme brulee and used the banmarie a hot
[509 - 512] water bath to protect your custard as it
[512 - 514] was baking, it is for that exact reason.
[514 - 516] The water is preventing the heat from
[516 - 519] accelerating too quickly so that your
[519 - 521] eggs curdle. That's how you get it to
[521 - 523] set into a beautiful jiggly smooth
[523 - 526] custard. And to show this concept, I'm
[526 - 528] going to make a very simple dish of
[528 - 530] steamed eggs. I grew up eating this
[530 - 532] probably twice a week. Once you learn
[532 - 533] it, I promise you're going to want to
[533 - 535] make it all the time. Got four eggs. I'm
[535 - 537] adding a pinch of salt to season the
[537 - 539] eggs through and it prevents them from
[539 - 541] coagulating too tightly. I'm going to
[541 - 544] add the stock or water. I prefer stock.
[544 - 545] It adds a little bit of savoriness, a
[545 - 547] little extra flavor. 1:11 ratios. That
[547 - 550] is the correct amount to keep the
[550 - 553] custard nicely set without being
[553 - 555] curdled. I'm going to beat this all
[555 - 558] together. The most timeconuming step.
[558 - 560] It's worth it to really make sure this
[560 - 563] is smooth. Obviously, it's going to
[563 - 564] incorporate some air, so you want to try
[564 - 566] to minimize that so you don't get these
[566 - 567] unattractive bubbles on the surface of
[567 - 569] your custard later. But the smooth
[569 - 571] texture is everything to this dish at
[571 - 573] the end. So, I'm going to strain this
[573 - 575] egg mixture through a fine mesh sie into
[575 - 577] the bowl. I'm going to steam and eat out
[577 - 580] of. This step is really important for a
[580 - 582] really nice smooth mixture. It's such a
[582 - 584] simple dish. It's worth taking a few
[584 - 586] extra steps to make it really great. I'm
[586 - 588] just going to take a second to skim off
[588 - 590] any major foaming bubbles. They're just
[590 - 592] kind of unsightly once they kind of come
[592 - 594] through at the end. And then this is
[594 - 596] ready to go in the steamer. I've got 2
[596 - 599] in of water. It's getting hot. This is
[599 - 601] all you need to steam the egg. You're
[601 - 602] going to eat it right out of the bowl we
[602 - 604] stranded it into. So, going to take
[609 - 612] gently. We don't want the egg to be on
[612 - 616] the bottom. We want it to be suspended
[616 - 619] above so that it has some room to
[619 - 620] circulate and then the heat won't be too
[620 - 622] intense on the bottom. It'll cause the
[622 - 623] eggs to scramble. And then I'm going to
[623 - 626] put a plate on top to prevent it from
[626 - 629] any sort of condensation that will come.
[629 - 631] Afterwards, bring to a
[631 - 634] boil. steamed egg. Medium heat for three
[634 - 637] minutes at a boil. And then I'm going to
[637 - 640] turn the heat off. Leave the lid on and
[640 - 643] let it sit for 18 to 20 minutes. It can
[643 - 644] cruise to the finish line. Become a
[644 - 646] really beautiful, smooth, delicious
[646 - 648] custard. I'm going to take this plate
[648 - 652] off. Everything is very hot. Be
[652 - 657] careful. Steam tongues. Custard looking
[659 - 662] pretty nice. Look at that jiggle. Set. Tap the
[662 - 665] nice. Look at that jiggle. Set. Tap the bowl. Look at it dance. Again, that was
[665 - 666] two ingredients, one of which could have
[666 - 668] been water. Now, we just need to season
[668 - 670] it. So, I like to put bit of soy sauce
[670 - 673] on top, touch of sesame oil, some sliced
[673 - 675] scallions, white rice. You're in
[678 - 681] [Music] business. Nice. Really good. It's just
[681 - 683] business. Nice. Really good. It's just so silky smooth. It's so easy. You can
[683 - 685] do all sorts of things with it. It's
[685 - 687] such a simple, economic, efficient way
[687 - 689] to cook. I I love it. It's great. So,
[690 - 692] steaming. I hope you appreciate it. It's
[692 - 694] simple, delicious, healthy, and
[694 - 697] versatile. I hope you have taken away
[698 - 699] some strong steaming knowledge. Please
[699 - 702] use this power only for good, not for
[702 - 706] evil. And eat dumplings.