Okay, let’s talk about this gas dim sum steamer I messed with the other day. I’ve been craving some good homemade dim sum, especially those fluffy, soft buns, and I thought, “Why not give it a shot myself?” So I started looking around for a decent steamer.
I’ve seen those electric ones, but honestly, I wanted something a bit more traditional. Plus, I’ve got a pretty decent gas stove, so I figured a gas steamer would be perfect. I did a bit of research, you know, reading reviews and comparing prices. Ended up grabbing one from a local store – seemed sturdy enough, made of stainless steel, and had a couple of tiers, which is great for making a bunch of stuff at once.
First thing I did was give it a good wash. You never know where these things have been, right? Soap, hot water, the whole shebang. Then came the fun part – prepping the dim sum. I went with a simple char siu bao recipe. Made the dough, marinated the pork, you know, the usual drill. It was a bit of work, I won’t lie, but hey, that’s part of the fun, isn’t it?
Getting to Steaming
- Assembled the steamer – pretty straightforward, just stacking the tiers on the base.
- Filled the bottom with water, making sure it wouldn’t touch the bottom of the first tier.
- Put the buns on parchment paper, spaced them out a bit so they wouldn’t stick together.
- Fired up the stove, brought the water to a boil. Then I lowered the heat to keep it at a nice, steady simmer.
- Placed the tiers with the buns on top, covered it up, and let it steam for about 15 minutes.
Man, the smell that started filling up my kitchen was amazing! After 15 minutes, I carefully took the lid off – gotta be careful with that steam, it’s hot! And there they were, my little buns, all puffed up and looking delicious.
I let them cool down a bit, then I just had to try one. The bun was so soft, the filling was juicy, it was like a little piece of heaven! Honestly, I was pretty proud of myself. The steamer worked like a charm. It’s definitely not as fast as those fancy electric ones, but there’s something satisfying about doing it the old-fashioned way, you know?
Clean up was easy peasy too, just had to wash the tiers and the base. All in all, it was a successful experiment. I’m definitely going to be using this gas dim sum steamer a lot more. Maybe next time I’ll try making some siu mai or those shrimp dumplings… The possibilities are endless!
