Steaming is an easy and healthy method of cooking. Done properly, steaming preserves nutrients, retains colours and improves flavours of foods. And it requires little or no oil. Wonderful things happen with steaming – hard foods soften, dried ones become moist and shrunken foods plump up again.

Steaming involves cooking with wet heat. Food is put into a metal container, plate or bowl, which is then placed on a wire rack above boiling water in a covered wok or pot. Stackable bamboo or aluminium baskets are more suitable for steaming large batches of foods, just like in the kopitiams or dim sum restaurants. Now, there are also electric steamers, complete with timers and buzzers!

Steaming does not splatter oil all over the kitchen. You can also steam and serve in the same dish. All these mean less cleaning up. However, simple as it seems, steaming has its own secrets for food to turn out well. Here are some hot tips for you:

• Pick a steamer of the right size with a tight-fitting lid. Use enough water for the whole steaming duration. If the water runs low while steaming, top up with boiling water.
• Bring the water to boil before you put food into the steamer.
• Marinate meats and seafood at least 10 minutes before steaming.
• To avoid condensed water from dripping onto the food, put a dry tea towel under the lid. Tie the ends of the towel over the lid so that they will not trail into the fire.
• The steaming time is very important. Oversteamed seafood becomes hard and leathery while overcooked eggs turn out coarse and watery. Steaming may take as little as 10 minutes for seafood or more than an hour for cakes. So, follow your recipe closely.
• If the food is to be steamed for a long time, add some one sen coins into the boiling water. When the jingling of the coins dies down, it is time to top up the hot water, which would have boiled down.
• Garnish steamed foods for better presentation. Use shredded chillies, coriander or spring onions for meat and seafood dishes.