Steaming · FFET10505
Zheng (steaming)
Steam rising from boiling water cooks foods ranging from fish and meat to egg custard and rice cakes.
Cooking food with steam in a steamer.
Steaming cooks food above boiling water using the vapor that rises from it, without direct contact with the water below. Examples include Cantonese steamed fish, Shaanxi zenggao rice cake, and historical banquet dishes such as chicken coated with ground rice and steamed in lotus leaves, and steamed lamb.
What
Steaming cooks food with vapor rising from boiling water. Food sits in a steaming vessel above the water; examples include fish, meat, egg custard, and tofu.1,2
When
Historical cooking texts describe steaming chicken, lamb, pig's head, and lotus root in a zeng vessel, measuring cooking time by how long rice takes to cook. These accounts show an established method used for varied ingredients, but the available evidence does not establish when it began.5
Where
Regional examples include Cantonese steamed fish and Shaanxi zenggao rice cake. Historical banquet accounts also include steamed chicken and lamb.2,3,4
How
One arrangement uses a bamboo steamer above water heated in a pot, allowing rising steam to cook the food. The historical zeng sat above a water-filled li vessel, with steam passing through a perforated grate.1,3
Why
Historical cooking advice emphasizes matching the method to the ingredient, giving a hen as suitable for steaming. It also criticizes keeping an entire meal in the steamer while waiting for guests, saying this diminishes flavor.6
Impact and influence
Steaming appears in both savory and sweet foods. Historical banquet dishes include chicken coated with ground rice and steamed in lotus leaves, and steamed egg cake with black dates; other cooking accounts include flour-coated steamed pork and meatballs steamed with sweet wine and soy sauce.4,7