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By: Ikedi Ani-okoye

Healthy cooking: The right equipment

If you want to go in for healthy and nutritious cooking you need the right equipment. This will not oldy save time and trouble, but give you the best possible results, presenting all the goodness, flavour and aroma your food.

The basic rule is only to use saucepans and frying pans which allow yon to cook wish very little fat or liquid. You can get good' quality pans in copper, stainless steel or cast ~ iron, each ofwilich is an excellent conductor-of heat and will cook evenly while saving energy. Non-stick surfaces will often eliminate the need for fat in cooking.

When buying pans have a careful look at the lid. It should be tight enough to prevent most ofthe steam escaping during cooking. best ones are those with an elongated rim which fits down inside the pan. With a lid like tills you can cook faith little or no liquid. The effect of the heat is to bring moisture out of the food wliich evaporates and then condenses forming a layer of water Jetween the edge ofthe lid and the rim of the pan, making the seal on the lid even more efficient. The condensed water also drips back into the pan making extra water unnecessary. So foods cook in their own juices and all their goodness and flavour are preserved.

Any pan needs a firm handic which will remain cold or become only slightly warm. Plastic handles are impractical for they mean that you can't use the pan in the oven.

Steam Cooking

In Chinese cooking, which is recognized as one ofthe healthiest in the world, foods are often cooked in the steam produced by a liquid. This method ensures maximum retention of flavour and nutritive food value. Professional chefs in the West havc also adopted this method which is excellent for delicate foodstuffs, such as fish or young vegetables.

These are three methods ofsteaming. The first is a quick method ofcooking meat, fish or vegetables by suspending them over the direct steam produced from boiling water below. This is the most popular method of steaming used today and has a number of advantages over other cooking methods: the food is kept stationary so that it cooks gently edith little possibility for breaking up; the steam dissolves far less ofthe colour, flavour and goodness of the food than other methods; and if you use proper stock, court bouillon or any other aromatic infusion instead of boiling water, then you both add flavour and nutrients to the steamed food as well as end up with the base for a delicious sauce.

The second method ofsteaming is the traditional prolonged way of cooking sealed sweet and savoury puddings in a basin over or in boiling liquid where the food steams in itS own juice and the boiling liquid or stearn does not come into contact with the actual food. This is much the same as placing the sealed pudding in the oven, except that steaming guarantees an exact temperature and evenly spread heat.

The third method of steaming is the oriental classic method of steaming rice, where the rice is washed well and immersed ill water. For the best results, make sure that the level of water is no higher than 2. 5 cm/ 1 inch above the top of the rice. Bring the water to the boil, then reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting, cover with a tight-fitting lid and allow the rice to steam for 15 to 20 minutes.

There are four golden rules to steam cooking.

1. Make sure that the steamer is covered with a tight-fitting lid to prevent the steam and any nutrients from escaping, although some leaking is inevitable.

2. You must ensure that the liquid level in the saucepan does not touch the base of the steamer above, otherwise the fond will not steaming but boiling, and you will end up with a stodgy mush.

3. The liquid below must not boil dry, or you will find that your once delicious stock mill now be forever welded to the saucepan. It is a good idea to have extra simmering stock or water ready to one side for topping-up when necessary. You must check the liquid level regularly, ideally every 10 to minutes.

4. Finally, the heat of the steam is so intense that even when you turn the cooker off, the food will continue to cook unless you move it from the steamer immediately.