Steaming produces delicious, fat-free food, writes Hugo Arnold
When the weather wasn't suitable for barbecuing, I spent the summer steaming and poaching. Well-seasoned salmon was slipped into water at a rolling boil and then served with mayonnaise and a bunch of watercress, or vegetables scooped from a bamboo steamer and dressed with a sharp, mustardy vinaigrette. Whole fish can be handled in the same way, and meat, too.
I'm no particular fan of no-fat cooking, but this is about as fat-free as you can get, while also being delicious. Ever so healthy, I am told. But this cook's hand is forever reaching for the bottle of olive oil, which is is never far away, or the slab of butter. Some ingredients need help. At least that's how I see it.
I started steaming in bamboo steamers, which cost just a few euro. You can go up-market and spend loads. But why bother. Fish works a dream in them, as do vegetables, and meat. Moisture retention has a lot to do with it. The down side? Generally, a lack of colour. You don't get any caramelisation in a steamer, so no crispy chicken skin, crunchy chewy beefy bits, or juices to turn into a gravy.
There is a way round the colour issue and that is to finish things off in an oven or pan. Chefs are fond of doing this; it certainly gives results, but it seems bit troublesome for a domestic kitchen. Bearnaise, or other sauces; yoghurt; a salsa or two, even a chutney could be used to liven things up. Or play the pale game. A poached leg of lamb and caper sauce is a delight, and a shoulder of lamb should be cooked no other way in my view; the fat just disappears.
For those worried about the plainnes of steamed food, the Chinese have a clever solution, which is to steam both the ingredient and the marinade together. Try a few scallops along with soy sauce, ginger and garlic. Use the scallop shells if you have them, but a plate will do just as well. This method works well with sea bass, too, steamed along with some greens - bok choi if you can get it, spinach if not. Spring onions add crunch and flavour.
This summer my most popular dish has been chicken, poached slowly with lots of aromatics and then served with baby summer vegetables and bowl or two of mayonnaise or aioli. These deliver the required richness, and the aioli adds punch too.
Steaming also comes into its own in making puddings. Ginger and marmalade are current favourites, but chocolate also gets a thumbs up, as does prune, laced with a glass or two of armagnac. These are not desserts for those squeamish on the cream front, however - a good steamed pud needs lots of cream or custard, which in my experience is about twice as much as you think. Just the thing for colder autumn days which are just around the corner.