What Is a Vegetable Rice Steamer?
- Small tabletop rice cookers sometimes come with vegetable steamer baskets. These baskets allow you to cook your rice in the main compartment, on the bottom. The vegetable steamer basket mounts on top of the rice, allowing you to cook your vegetables in the steam that naturally occurs as your rice cooks. Rice cookers may come packaged with a steamer basket, or you may be able to purchase one separately after you buy your rice cooker. If you have an older rice cooker, it is worth checking with the manufacturer to see if they have created a steamer attachment in the amount of time since you bought your cooker.
- Electric vegetable steamers are often touted as making healthy eating fast and easy. These gadgets sometimes come with baskets that allow you to steam rice in them as well. As with rice cookers, these machines are manufactured for one purpose, but can easily accommodate the other with the proper attachment. Check with your vegetable steamer's manufacturer to see if it is possible to cook rice in your vegetable steamer. Because rice takes longer to cook than most vegetables, your machine may not necessarily have a setting that allows you to cook rice. If your vegetable steamer runs on a timer that you can program, you should be able to cook rice in it by following the instructions on your rice package.
- Bamboo steamers are the decorative, round, woven baskets you sometimes see if you go to a dim sum restaurant. Used primarily in Asian cooking styles, these steamers can be used to cook both rice and vegetables, as well as dishes made from rice and vegetables. They come in various sizes and mount over the top of any pan or wok that is a similar or smaller diameter to the steamer. Fill the pan or wok with water, put food in the bamboo steamer, and put a lid on it. Bamboo is a strong, renewable resource. Unfortunately, bamboo steamers can retain odors if they have been used to cook strong smelling foods, and they are not always easy to clean.
- Stainless steel steamers are more commonly used in restaurants than bamboo, simply because they are easier to keep clean and odor-free. They also better withstand the rigors of hard and repeated use, as happens in restaurants, and they are dishwasher safe. They are usually offered in the same sizes as bamboo steamers, but may cost a little more when you first purchase them. Stainless steel steamers can cook rice and vegetables in the same way as bamboo steamers. With proper use and care, they do not need to be replaced as often as bamboo steamers.
