Editing Steaming (section)

==Method==
{{See also|Bamboo steamer}}
[[File:Steamers.jpg|thumb|right|Two types of steaming vessels, metal and wood with bamboo]]
Steaming works by boiling water continuously, causing it to vaporize into steam; the steam then carries heat to the nearby food, thus cooking the food. The food is kept separate from the boiling water but has direct contact with the steam, resulting in a moist texture to the food. This differs from [[double boiling]], in which food is not directly exposed to steam, or [[pressure cooking]], which uses a sealed vessel but is capable of pressure steaming or submerging.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Such cooking is most often done by placing the food in a food steamer, typically a circular container made of metal, wood, or bamboo. The steamer usually has a lid that is placed on top of the container during cooking to allow the steam to cook through the food. When a steamer is unavailable, food can be steamed inside a wok, supported over boiling water in the bottom of the wok by a metal frame. Some modern home [[microwave oven]]s include a structure to cook food with steam vapor produced in a separate water container, providing a similar result to being cooked on a stove. There are also specialized steam ovens available.{{cn|date=October 2024}}
<gallery>
File:Steam glutinous rice with simple japanese hearth,Katori-city,Japan.JPG|A simple hearth with a metal pan holding two wooden steaming vessels and a wooden lid used in Japan
File:Steaming frozen food 1.jpg|A makeshift steaming vessel with lid removed;  a frozen dish is placed on a metal frame in a single handled wok with water.
</gallery>

===Steamed foods===
[[File:CantoneseSteamedfish.jpg|thumb|Cantonese cuisine, steamed fish, seasoned with [[soy sauce]], [[coriander]] and [[Welsh onion]]]]
{{See also|List of steamed foods}}

In Japan, glutinous rice is steamed to prepare ''[[mochi]]'' rice cakes. Traditional Japanese sweets or ''[[wagashi]]'' making involves steaming rice or wheat dough for making mochigashi and manju.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

[[File:ChineseSteamedEgg.jpg|thumb|[[Chinese steamed eggs]]]]

In Western cooking, steaming is most often used to cook vegetables{{mdash}}it is rarely used to cook meats. However, [[steamed clams]] are prepared by steaming. With [[Chinese cuisine]], vegetables are usually [[stir frying|stir fried]] or [[Blanching (cooking)|blanched]] and seldom steamed. Seafood and meat dishes are steamed. For example: Steamed whole [[fish]], steamed [[crab]], steamed pork spare ribs, steamed [[Ground meat|ground]] [[pork]] or [[beef]], steamed [[Chicken as food|chicken]] and steamed [[goose]].{{cn|date=October 2024}}

[[Rice]] can be steamed too, although in Chinese cooking this is simply referred to as "cooking" rather than "steaming". In Thailand steaming is the definition of minimalist cooking.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foodtolove.com.au/recipes/whole-thai-style-steamed-fish-17775|title= Steaming fish in Thai-style|author=The Australian Women's Weekly|author-link=The Australian Women's Weekly|publisher= [[Bauer Media Group|Bauer Media Pty Limited]]|access-date=2018-01-28}}</ref> [[Wheat]] foods are steamed as well. Examples include [[Mantou|buns]] and Chinese steamed cakes. Similarly, in [[Mexican cuisine|Mexican]] and [[Central American cuisine]], [[tamale]]s are made by steaming a dough made from [[nixtamalization|nixtamalized]] [[maize]] (called [[masa]]) in wrappers made from corn husks or banana leaves; the dough can be stuffed or left plain.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Steamed meat dishes (except fish and some [[dim sum]]) are less common in Chinese restaurants than in traditional home cooking,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Steamed Dishes — www.hospemag.me - world's largest hospitality career emag |url=https://www.hospemag.me/cms/tag/Steamed+Dishes |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=www.hospemag.me |date=25 April 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref> because meats usually require longer cooking times to steam than to stir fry. Commercially sold [[frozen food]]s (such as dim sum) formerly had instructions to reheat by steaming, until the rise in popularity of home microwave ovens, which have considerably shorter cooking times.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

===Chinese dishes===
[[File:Har Gow and Shumai at DK Chinese Restaurtant.jpg|thumb|Steamed ''[[har gow|har giao]]'' and ''[[shumai|siu mai]]'']]
[[File:Pearl Meatballs with Sticky Rice.jpg|thumb|Steamed [[pearl meatballs]]]]

'''Staple foods'''
*[[Mantou]], steamed buns
*[[Wotou]], Chinese cornbread

'''[[Dim sum]]''' 
* [[Shaomai|Siu mai]], meat dumplings
* [[Har gao]], shrimp dumplings
* [[Baozi]], filled buns
* [[Lion's Head (food)|Lion's head meatball]]s
* [[Steamed meatball]]s
* [[Pearl meatball]]s, pork meatballs covered in sticky rice

'''Rice'''
*Steamed rice with crab, [[Fujian cuisine]] called 蠘飯 (蟳飯)
* Fenzhengrou (粉蒸肉): Steamed pork with rice flour

'''Seafood'''
*Fish: [[Siniperca chuatsi|Chinese perch]], [[grouper]], [[Japanese black porgy]]
*Crab: [[Chinese mitten crab]], [[Shanghai cuisine]] for the autumn

'''Soup'''
*[[:zh:煨汤|Weitang]]: Steamed pork rib soup, [[Jiangxi cuisine]]
*[[Buddha Jumps Over the Wall]]: [[Fujian cuisine]]
*Winter Melon Soup: Using a hollowed out and sculpted gourd as a vessel
*[[:zh:汽锅鸡|Qi Guoji Steamed Chicken Soup]]: Chicken soup cook in a double steamer, [[Yunnan cuisine]]

'''Sweets'''
*[[Double skin milk]], said to be made in the 1850s in [[Daliang Subdistrict, Foshan|Daliang]] in [[Foshan]], [[Guangdong]]
*[[Guilinggao]]: also known as Turtle Jelly, a jelly-like [[Chinese medicine]], also sold as a dessert

'''Others'''
*[[Chinese steamed eggs]] similar to custard with local variety of ingredients and vessels.

<gallery>
File:Dim sum.jpg|Variety of dim sum
File:Buddha soup2.jpg|[[Buddha Jumps Over the Wall]], or Buddha's Temptation
File:Wintermelonsoup.jpg|A small bowl of [[winter melon]] soup
File:Qi Guoji.jpg|Steamed [[silkie]] soup
File:Guilinggao.jpg|Turtle jelly
</gallery>

===Japanese dishes===



*'''Glutinous rice'''. Instead of boiling, glutinous rice is steamed to eat. {{nihongo||おこわ (強飯)|Okowa}} as it is called, receipts with ingredients and vessel chestnuts (kuri okowa) or wild herbs (sansai okowa) are popular. 
:*{{nihongo|Red rice|赤飯|[[sekihan]]}}: served at festive occasions with [[azuki]] bean and color agent added to enhance red color.
:*[[Mochi]]: prepared with steamed rice and kneaded.

*[[Chawanmushi]]: savory egg custard
*Odamaki-mushi: [[udon]] in a cup of chawan-mushi. [[Osaka]] specialty.

There are recipes where '''sauce''' is added to the main ingredients, aiming to control smell or aroma, or keep moisture to the ingredients.
*Awayukimushi: egg [[meringue]] over fish or seafood and keep moisture as well as retain aroma.<ref name=kojien>{{cite book|title= [[Kōjien]]|edition=5|publisher= [[Iwanami Shoten]]|isbn= 978-4-00-080111-9|year= 1998}}</ref>
*Kaburamushi: grated or shredded turnip covers crabs and fish to keep moisture.<ref name=kojien/>
*Sakamushi: add sake to steam sea bream and clams which will reduce fishy smell.

Recipes named after the container.
*Dobin-mushi: matsutake and fish in a pot together with dashi soup.
*Yugama: [[Citrus junos|yuzu]] citrus is hollowed out into a cup<ref>{{cite book|title=本日「いいかげん」日和: そのまんま楽しく生きる一日一話 (Honjitsu iikagen-biyori: sonomanma tanoshiku ikiru ichinichi ichiwa|oclc=666225791|trans-title= It's 'easy-going' day today: living life happily with day-to-day episodes|language= ja|last= Hiro|first= Sachiya|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1DM7BAAAQBAJ&q=%E6%9F%9A%E5%AD%90%E9%87%9C&pg=PA424|publisher= PHP Kenkyūjo|page= 424|date= 2013-12-27|isbn=9784569791203|access-date=2018-01-28 }}</ref> to hold and add zest to the food.<ref name=aki>{{cite book|title=四季日本の料理 秋|date=25 July 1998|trans-title=Four Seasons of Japanese Cooking: Autumn|language=ja|publisher=[[Kōdansha]]|isbn=4-06-267453-X}}</ref>
:*Sea bream milt steamed in yugama<ref>{{cite book|title= 楽しむ釣り魚料理 (Tanoshimu tsurizakana ryōri)|trans-title= Enjoy cooking your catch with fish cuisine|editor= Seitōsha Editorial|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=pY9oSWJt9wIC&q=%E6%9F%9A%E5%AD%90%E9%87%9C%E8%92%B8&pg=PA38|publisher= Seitōsha|pages=38–39|isbn= 4791609336|date= December 1997}}</ref>
'''Sweets''': steaming is an important process in Japanese sweets making such as [[manjū]], [[yōkan]], [[uirō]], [[karukan]] or [[suama]].

<gallery>
File:Chawanmushi by nyaa birdies perch in Yugashima, Shizuoka.jpg|Chawanmushi (foreground)
File:Kohaku manju - white bun - march 2014.jpg|Manjū
File:Kagami mochi by tamakisono.jpg|Mochi as offering to the deities
</gallery>

===Korean dishes===
* [[Gyeran-jjim]], a custardy dish