Helen Chen's Asian Kitchen Bamboo Steamer, 12-Inch

Description

Helen’s Asian Kitchen Bamboo Steamer is ideal for steam cooking foods. Made from 100-percent all-natural bamboo, it’s perfect for steaming vegetables, dumplings, dim sum, steamed bao, potstickers, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, seafood, desserts, and more. Steaming food helps retain fresh textures and flavors, and preserves precious nutrients. Easily turn almost any pan or stock pot into a vegetable steamer to make healthy meals with ease. The 2-tier design offers ample room for preparing a single or multiple servings. Unlike the boiling method, foods hover above the hot water to cook or reheat gently with steam to promote healthy cooking and retain more of the food’s fresh flavor and texture with higher levels of nutrients. No more leaching precious vitamins into the water to be discarded down the drain. The lid helps contain steam inside to cook foods to perfection. Made from all-natural bamboo, Helen Chen’s Steamer is sturdy, durable, safe for use with non-stick cookware. It’s lightweight and durable, easy to use and clean. Wipe with a dry cloth or brush before first use, and after every use. Hand wash in warm, soapy water as needed. To help keep Steamer cleaner and prevent foods from sticking, use Helen’s Asian Kitchen Steamer Liners (#97019) sold separately. Brought to you by HIC Harold Import Co. Review: Solid construction and generous size - Bamboo steamers are one of the most useful items in ANY kitchen, not just those with an Asian bent. Apart from the stock standard dim sum and steamed veg, think about everything from fresh clams to figgy pudding that needs a good steam. Cooking is of course main intent but consider a steamer for reheating things that really don't suffer the microwave well. Moist warm heat is a very good thing (especially for breads and the like) and just as fast if you have a quality steamer at the ready. Mine stays parked on my cooktop at a back burner nearly dedicated to the task. I even use mine as a frequent plate warmer and often turn the lid over as a basket to hold everything from tortillas to pitas for serving. Your kitchen will thank you for having a nice, large bamboo steamer on hand. I've used a bazillion bamboo steamers in my time sourced from all over the globe and this one from Helen Chen is of a much more solid construction than many. The temptation is to head to Chinatown and get a discount model but for the price (~$20), I think you're better off with this version that seems much more rigid to my hands. The thickness of materials used here tells me this one will hold up much longer than examples I've come across in other Asian shops. The fit (lid to rim) is also sometimes suspect on cheaper versions that are too tight or loose but this one has proportions that make the stacking a snap, even after the bamboo swells with use over hot steam which can be troublesome with ill-fitted models. Finally, the size here (12") is generous and easily fits both woks and stockpots already on my shelves without any further "kitchen engineering". The smaller diameters might be great for presentation on a dim sum cart but in my kitchen, I appreciate the extra steaming real estate. Afterall, the steam doesn't really care how much diameter it fills and in several decades of dim sum making, I've never said "I wish I had a smaller steamer." While a trip to Hong Kong might be more fun, you won't do better than this steamer for under $20. Thanks to desertcart and their free shipping, I'll have to find another excuse to head to China. A product request to the manufacturer: I'd love to see a bamboo "height extension ring" to fit this unit. Basically a bottomless ring (or two) of the same diameter to (occasionally) accomdate taller bowls and dishes or larger items for longer duration steam cooking. I've only seen such a thing once before in Hong Kong and used it often for a decade before it finally died from old age. As I recall, the extension ring had one or two support slats *at the edges* of the circle for rigidity but otherwise left unfettered access for tall items. Thanks for a quality version of a classic otherwise. EDIT: 01/2015 I just came back to this page to buy a gift steamer. The product is still just as durable and solid as I reviewed back in 2012 but I was shocked at the new price tag for the 12" model when they offered it to me for $52!! Turns out there are other suppliers that hopped in queue before desertcart somehow and that's just ridiculous. Make sure you check the other buying options and get a reasonable price. I see that even desertcart itself has almost doubled the price to around $35 (I confirmed my old price was $19) which is disappointing but it is a quality product and if they're offering you free shipping, I suppose that's fair. $19 was better, $30 is reasonable, $50+ is just silly. Happy steaming out there! Review: Nice steamer! - I really like this steamer. It's great for veggies and Chinese dumplings. I discovered that for the really big dumplings that don't fit, I can get more space by turning the bottom later upside down and putting at on top of the upper layer, then the lid on top of that. It doesn't nest, but it gets the job done well.