Monday, December 12, 2011

Steamed Baby Bok Choy

I bought myself a birthday present this year.

A bamboo steamer.


I have kind of been wanting one for a while, but didn't really have a real reason. And I don't really have room for it in my kitchen... But I finally caved, for reasons that will become clear later this week... One trip to the Asian grocery later and I am now the proud owner of a two-tier bamboo steamer! Woo hoo!

I wanted to give the steamer a test run right away, so I thought some steamed veggies would be a safe place to start. I even found a good recipe for inspiration.

Now, the steamer didn't come with instructions, so I did some googling and, well, figured that I would figure it out. I did learn, though, from another food blogging friend (thank you, Cuppy!) that you have to prime a steamer prior to its first use by cleaning it with warm soapy water and steaming it empty for 30 minutes.

Once that was done, I was ready to give it a go.

I started by cutting each of three baby bok choy in half.


I then laid the cut baby bok choy into the two baskets of the steamer.


And then we were ready to go. I poured a couple of inches of water into the bottom of my widest pan, brought it to a boil, turned the heat to medium and set the stacked and covered steamer right into the pan.


About ten minutes later, I took a peek.


Look at that! Beautifully steamed baby bok choy!

A little sauce and we had an instant, yummy veggie side for dinner.


I can't wait to try all kinds of fun things in my new steamer. Hooray for fun kitchen toys!


Steamed Baby Bok Choy

1 bunch baby bok choy (as many as can fit in your steamer, I used three, my bunch came with five)
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce (I used dark soy sauce)
1 teaspoon sesame oil

If desired, cut the baby bok choy in half (I did). Make sure to clean the bok choy well, as grit can be stuck between the layers. Layer the baby bok choy into the baskets of the steamer.
Boil a pan of water, and when it comes to a boil, place the bamboo steamer over the water. Cover the steamer and leave it for 5-10 minutes (depending on the size of the bok choy).
For the sauce, heat the oyster sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil over a low, gentle heat until warmed through. You can also combine them and microwave it until warm.
Drizzle the sauce over the steamed bok choy.

Enjoy!

4 comments:

  1. I got one of this almost a year back to make sweet rice with...and still haven't used it. Actually, seeing this makes me want to go pull it out and experiment! LOL
    Carolyn
    www.cookinformycaptain.blogspot.com

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  2. Oh how fun! :) Think of all the awesome baby food you can now make...HAHA

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  3. Oops. I used one of these recently (and I would say it is a fair assumption that I used it for the same thing that you did ;-p) without priming it. I suppose you could argue that using it IS priming it... except that there was a faint smell that could probably be attributed to whatever chemical they treated the bamboo with!

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  4. Yum this looks so delicious, fresh and tasty!

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