h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

my father had an heart attack and is now supposed to eat meals without frying - which excludes most of our native dishes. i bought an electric steam cooker, but need receipes for it. pretty please?

Steamed Fish


This dish is extremely healthy, simple to make and also very cheap!

What you need.

Steamer (A wok with a lid, or a ricecooker is fine)

Steaming stand (if using an improvised steamer) - this is basically anything that will support a plate above the water level.

Medium sized fish eg Trout, Tillapia, Garoupa. Make sure the fish is scaled and gutted! (If bought from a supermarket it probably will be already - otherwise your fishmonger will do it for you if you're unsure how to).

Salt

Ginger

Garlic (optional)

Thin Soya Sauce sometimes called light soya sauce)

Spring Onions

Vegetable Oil

Directions.


Bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Place the fish on a plate above the water on a steaming stand if using a wok or other large pan.

Slice enough thin pieces of ginger (thinner than match sticks) to be able to sprinkle liberally over the fish. Also cut 5 or 6 spring onions into thirds and then slice thinly lengthways. You should end up with lots of extremely thin slivers of spring onions about 2-3 inches long. There should be enough to cover the fish.

Sprinkle a generous amount of salt all over the upper surface of the fish and then do the same with the ginger.

Cover the fish with another plate of the same size of use cling film - Do not pierce the clingfilm! (Note, this step is only necessary if you suspect that the condensation will drip down onto the fish - if the lid for your steamer is curved like a rice cookers you probably don't need to worry)

Place the fish in the steamer and steam for about 15-20 minutes.

You can check the fish is cooked properly by inserting a kebab stick or thin knife into the centre of the body. The meat should not stick to the wood or knife.

Heat a ladle full of oil to a sizzling hot temperature and pour over the length of the fish - you should hear the fish crackle as you do this! You could also fry some garlic into the oil for flavour.

Cover the fish with your sping onions and sprinkle plenty of soya sauce over it. (Note that this is the traditional method - I prefer to put my spring onions on before I add the oil so they are slightly cooked.)

Your steamed fish is now ready to serve! It is usually eaten with plain boiled rice.

http://uk.search.yahoo.com/search?p=steamed+fish+recipes&sp=1&ei=UTF-8&fl=0&meta=vc%3D&fr=ybr_bt&SpellState=n-2195904242_q-GbsO4GrAdOAcixV7wcgqTwABAA%40%40

Where are you a native of nim?

Most vegetables can be simply steamed without adding anything.

I often steam fish and sometimes chicken. For steaming something like salmon you could sprinkle chopped fresh dill over it and add a squeeze of lemon juice. For chicken you could rub garlic and tarragon over it (I'm having this tonight ).

Basically, you can wrap things in any herb you like the taste of to give it flavour


*wonders if there are any steamed recipies in the guide*

He coupld probably bake things too, by putting the thing you want to bake in some greaseproof paper with tasty herbs or spices.

BAR B Q food is quite healthy you can cook fish and veg in tin foil.

i'm from iran - most dishes include fried vegetables which hold lots of the fat in themselves and then are cooked until no dietary worth remains

thanks for the receipe and ideas. i'm a bit in panic mode right now, i had intended to buy the cooker in 1 or 2 month for my own use, but instead of "hey, cool new toy" i have to get a running start. he's back from the hospital today, and for dinner he had fried ground beef and fried tomatos

he's very picky about his food, and i have to do something to tempt him away from his usual choices.

fathers....

Poached fish is very tasty, too. Put it in a saucepan and add milk or water until it just covers the fish, then boil the liquid and cover the pan for a few minutes and it should be lovely.

To be totally honest, I'm not much of a cook and haven't done this for ages, but hopefully someone else will know of a recipe and have the proper instructions on how long to cook it for. I know it works, but I can't remember the details.

Sorry!

Does he like soups? You can do a lot with fresh veg and lean cuts of meat, none of which reuries that* much fat to be added to them Also, and as regards frying things; I've had a really great set of non stick pans (that actually are* non stick) for a few years now; example when I fry bacon or sausages, I don't add any fat to the pan; as the bacon/sausage etc soon gives off fat into the pan and they can cook in that... Of course, things like bacon and fat are just high in fat anyhow....

8 oz steam
1 clove sliced garlic
1 tbsp soy sauce *
1 piece lemon grass, crushed
Grated ginger
salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, and cook over a high heat for 2 mins (rare), 5 mins (medium) or 10 mins (burnt).

RF

* a note on soy sauce: so-called "light" soy sauces are actually higher in salt than regular ones. "Light" doesn't mean "healthy".

'8oz Steam'?

Can you get it in cans now or something?

Oh. Ha ha.

If it's not here, it's not worth eating: http://www.foodnetwork.com/

Don't get too caught up in steaming. You can also cut the fat and get healthy results by baking, grilling, or broiling. That's just off the top of my head, and I'm fairly useless in the kitchen. My wife is a health nazi, though, and this stuff works for her.

My wife had hepatitis and couldn't take any fat whatsoever while she was recovering, so we got good at cooking without fat. You can grill things, as the fat in them will drip out. Grilled chicken was a particular favourite at the time. You can fry an egg in a non-stick frying pan without any fat (although eggs might not be recommended for your father). There's a recipe for cold tea brack (a type of bready cake) which is very easy and doesn't use any butter or fat of any sort. I can dig it out if you are interested.