I realised that most of my plates cannot fit into the food baskets and that was a problem as I had to find other ways to fit the food in. I had 4 dishes (including rice) to cook, so I decided to use 2 tiers at one time instead of using all 3 tiers.
1st tier: Rice
I had to use the plastic rice/soup bowl that came together with the steamer for the egg, so I used 2 small bowls for the rice instead.
All the bigger plates cannot fit into the basket, so I just placed the broccoli in the basket itself. I set the 2nd tier on the 1st tier when the timer was at remaining 6 mins even though the cooking guide stated that the cooking time required to cook broccoli is 10-15 mins. After 6 mins, I decided to be more kiasu and set an additional 4 mins (total 10 mins). Wrong move. For this steamer, the food gets steamed pretty fast, so the broccoli was a bit softer than the way I like it at the end of 10 mins. Next time I shall stick with 6 mins!
2nd round (bottom tier with the steamed egg and 2nd tier with the salmon):
The shallow metal plate that I usually use to steam eggs is too big, so I used the rice/soup bowl to steam the egg instead. Takes a longer cooking time though cos the bowl is deeper. The salmon was perfect - 5 mins (despite the 10 mins that was stated in the guide).
Dinner:
1) Rice (haha)
2) Broccoli (wanted to pour melted cheese over it, but the cheese hardened!!! I think I may have used the wrong type of cheese)
3) Steamed egg with century egg
4) Salmon with lemon
Honestly, I have always doubted the abilities of a steamer. I mean, how good can steamed food taste especially when they are steamed together? Won't they end up tasting the same? Well surprisingly, the answer is NO! The food tasted very good, especially the broccoli and salmon! I love the taste of the broccoli! Although I did not add any sauce (it was supposed to be coated with melted cheese), the broccoli was delicious! It was fresh, "juicy" and sweet! I have cooked broccoli many times by stir frying but the taste was never the same as steaming! Its really good! I shall steam my broccoli in future!
Steaming rice takes a long time - 40 mins. I think I shall either use the rice cooker next time or ask Kitty to tabao plain porridge for me. I prefer having porridge for dinner cos it is easier to digest.
I coated the salmon with BERTOLLI spread and squeezed lemon all over it before steaming. The salmon came out to be really yummy - fat and juicy! Side track a bit: BERTOLLI spread is made from olive oil. It has only 14% saturated fat compared to butter’s 54%. Because of its composition, BERTOLLI spread can contribute positively to staying healthy by replacing saturated fats in the diet. It is a very good alternative to butter/margarine and it tastes good! P.s I switched to using BERTOLLI 2 years ago and have never regretted my choice. I buy the Extra Virgin spread. There is the Classico spread as well. Try it and you will discover the goodness of BERTOLLI!
Anna: If you happen to be reading this entry, can you please tell me if sea salt is better than normal salt? I have replaced the normal sugar with cane sugar, canola cooking oil with Bertolli olive oil and now thinking of dumping the normal salt and replacing it with sea salt.
About the HD9140 steamer:
I really like this steamer. It is really easy to use and I like the digital timer function. Timing is more accurate. I don't have to squint to see how much the timer has "turned" for those non-digital steamers. When the water has reached the minimum level, the "Refill" indicator will light up, prompting me to add in more water to the base reservoir. There is an external water inlet, so I did not have to risk lifting up the baskets and get scald by hot steam whenever I want to do a refill. The steamer will automatically switch to Keep Warm mode (you can set the duration too) after cooking. Best of all, I like it cos the aroma of the food does not mix, and the end result food is really delicious. Oh, and its very easy to clean! P.s I have not tried the flavour booster, so I cannot comment on that. You can supposedly add herbs and spices into the flavour booster and the heat from the steam will release the aroma which will infuse the food with their flavours.
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