Text | Momo knew
Steaming, which is a cooking method with water vapor as the heat conduction medium, is one of the most basic cooking methods for ordinary Chinese families, but in the traditional kitchens of many Western countries, there is no concept of steaming at all. Steaming is a major difference between Eastern and Western diets, a major symbol of Chinese food, and a great invention in itself.
▍ The great invention of the Chinese kitchen
Steaming has a very long history in China, according to archaeological findings, the cooking utensils used for steaming pottery (yin gift) first appeared in the cross-lake bridge culture in the lower Yangtze River basin, about 7,000 years ago, and was also found in the well-known Hemudu culture. This is a vessel with a hole in the bottom to hold food.
The earliest real steamer was the word "甗" (pronounced yǎn). The current steamer combination is to use a pot and a grate to achieve the separation of food and water, and the ancient pot is a composite cooker composed of two parts. The upper part is the koshiki, and the lower part is the mane (sound standing), which is a strangely shaped water container. When used, the fire is burned under the bristle, the water in the bristle is heated, and steam is generated, and the steam passes through the small hole in the bottom of the koshiki to heat the food contained in the koshiki to achieve the purpose of steaming.
▲ Mane, the lower part is three hollow feet, this shape is completely to expand the area of the fire, cook food faster
▲ Shang bronze beast face pattern
▲ The Tomb of Women's Good Three Couplets was excavated in 1976 from the Tomb of Yin Xu in Anyang City, Henan Province. Height 68 cm, length 103.7 cm, width 27 cm
▲ Portrait stones excavated from the Eastern Han Tomb of Dahuting in Mixian County, Henan Province, and bamboo steamers appeared
Using pottery, you can also boil water and cook porridge while steaming rice. Compared to barbecue, it improves cooking efficiency and saves fuel. Compared with barbecue, steaming is also easy to control, barbecue technology is not in place, it is easy to waste food, in ancient times, it is really hard to come by, and it is a matter of life.
The steamed grain absorbs the water, is more swollen, soft, both full and easy to digest and absorb, and improves the absorption and utilization efficiency of food.
In the Ancient Shi Kao of the Three Kingdoms Zhou Dynasty, it is said that "the Yellow Emperor first steamed the valley for rice, and cooked the grain for porridge." Steaming rice to cook porridge, the concept of "eating" probably starts from the use of steaming.
▲ Steamed pork
Steaming is still popular today because the texture of steamed vegetables is delicate, the taste is soft and smooth, the nutrients are not destroyed, and the aroma is not lost. Compared to frying, grilling and stir-frying, steaming is still a relatively healthy and environmentally friendly way of home cooking.
▍ Steamed sea bass what kind of fish is steamed
There are many steaming techniques, among which steamed fish is a very simple steamed dish. Home-cooked meals that can be made without the need for very specialized and complex kitchen equipment and technology.
In addition to the osmanthus fish (mandarin fish) and white fish (warbler), the most common thing is probably steamed sea bass. Steamed sea bass is popular because it has fewer spines and is cheaper. But few people may know that our daily steamed sea bass is not a native fish.
What the Chinese tradition cherishes is the Songjiang perch, whether it is "autumn wind rising, thinking of Wu zhongzhong soup perch", the perch that made Zhang Han of the Western Jin Dynasty homesick and resigned, or the perch that Li Hongzhangton was difficult to give up in the TV series, all of which are the four gills of the Du Father fish family.
▲ Four-gill perch
Its appearance is characterized by large mouths and fine scales, and there are two orange twill on the gill membrane, resembling 2 gill leaves, so it is called "four gill perch". Native to the coastlines of China, Japan and South Korea, the four-gill perch is a migratory fish species. Nowadays, the wild resources of the four-gill perch in the Jiangnan region are almost depleted, mainly relying on artificial breeding, but there are still many wild distributions in the northeast region.
The most common so-called freshwater perch on the market today is the largemouth bass, which is not a native fish. It is a genus of black perch in the family Sunfish, native to the freshwater waters of the central United States, northeastern Mexico and southeastern Canada in North America, and was later introduced to culture around the world.
▲ Largemouth bass
It is worth noting the distinction between fish, as well as:
Sea bass, scientific name Japanese real perch, is found offshore and at the confluence of freshwater in estuaries.
▲ Sea bass
River perch, also known as red perch, Wudao black, authentic native perch, native to the northern region of Xinjiang, China.
▲ Five blacks from Xinjiang
The native Shatang fish is also called Cigu Nerd, and the meat is tender and delicious.
▲ Sand pond fish
Pointed pond fish, also known as bamboo shoot shell fish, is equally delicious.
▲ Bamboo shoot shell fish is larger than sand pond fish
Compared with others, the largemouth bass, which is not noble in birth, has become so common that many people cannot figure out its origin because of its wide range of culture.
▍Steamed sea bass what it looks like
Recipes for steaming fish are all over the Internet these days, but they are either too brief or conflicting, and there is indeed a difference between the north and the south.
Steamed fish in the south pay attention to fish to be fresh, eat the original taste of fish, seasoning by steamed fish soy sauce. There are more ingredients for steamed fish in the north, such as diced scallions, ginger, pepper, ham and bamboo shoots (slices), etc., and the juice poured on it is also fried, and the taste is relatively thick. At present, the light practice of Cantonese cuisine is more acceptable and more common.
How exactly should a qualified steamed sea bass be handled? Although steaming is simple, but the process is not right, the effect will inevitably not come out.
First, choose the fish.
Fish choose the best one with about a pound. In the big fish tank of the supermarket or wet market, choose those that swim quietly and steadily. Non-stop scurrying is not selected, which is a manifestation of the fish itself being uncomfortable and dying. The freshness of the fish is the basis for success.
Second, kill the fish.
Killing fish cannot be slapped to death or thrown to death. Because there will be bruising on the fish after a beat, the fish body is uneven and the taste is inconsistent. Ordinary fish do not matter, high-grade fish, photographed fish directly reduced by more than half of the price.
Blood should be released, after opening the stomach, do not rinse back and forth, it is best to wipe it with a damp cloth, more washing will lose the umami taste.
Third, processing.
No need to marinate, no need to salt. If you want to wipe, you should wait for the water to boil and then wipe, smear early will become pickled, salt will force out the water of the fish itself, lose the umami taste, and the meat will become rough. Whether or not to cut the knife depends on the fish, round and thick fish, to be padded.
With green onion leaves cushioned under the body of the fish, the fish will not stick to the plate, but also allow the steam to circulate more and heat more evenly. Put a few slices of ginger on top of the fish.
Fourth, the heat.
The water is boiled into the pot, with the maximum firepower, in one go, and cannot be broken in the middle. If the lid is not tight, you can seal the edges with a cloth, and the lid is pressed against the weight to increase the pressure of the steam in the pot.
After steaming, immediately out of the pot, ginger and shallots removed, all the water in the plate is poured out. Sprinkle pepper, fresh ginger, white green onion and roll oil. As for soy sauce look at your favorite flavor.
The heat is between the so-called almost bone spur separation and adhesion. In terms of steaming time, affected by factors such as the size of the fish, it is generally 8 minutes to a pound of fish, but the magic of use is that you can master the fine skills by practicing more.
Fifth, the appearance of the finished product.
The fish is steamed out, just by looking at the appearance, you know whether the fish is right or not, and the heat is not right. Fresh fish steamed out with increased fire, the skin of the fish exploded naturally, and the eye of the fish was about to burst out. If the skin does not explode, or the fish eye pattern does not move, either the fish is not fresh, or the fish has been photographed, or the fire is cut off in the middle, or the fire is not enough.
Steamed fish is just one of the most simple steamed dishes in Chinese cuisine. Steaming can also be used in daily life to keep dishes warm and heat up, and in traditional China, steaming is so common that it has even become the stem of a talk show actor, ridiculing the older generation that everything has to be steamed, including chocolate.
Now that the oven has entered the Chinese kitchen, the living standards of the Chinese people are not so mindful of energy consumption and waste of ingredients, but this will not change the status of steaming, the steaming technique and lifestyle are closely linked, in the pursuit of the original taste and nutrition trend, steaming will continue to carry forward.
Note: The pictures in this article are from the network