Kitchenette Cooking: Pressure Cooker Dumplings
Friday 1 May 2009 by Dr Maytel
Hock and I are both currently living in different countries in studio apartments
Yes sad, I know. I'm currently in Bangkok though, but only for a two week conjugal visit.
But given that we are both facing the challenges of living alone and cooking in kitchenettes (two stove top elements, no oven, microwave) I thought I would begin a series on kitchenette cooking solutions
My most recent ingenious solution, if I do say so myself is pressure cooker dumplings
Take said frozen pre-purchased or pre-made dumpling from your freezer and place in a bamboo steamer
Place a cup of water and a rack inside your newly purchased pressure cooker
Place bamboo steamer on rack
Secure pressure cooker lid and place on stove top. Bring to pressure, reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes.
Turn off heat and let steam release slowly
Eat dumpling
This seriously speeds up the cooking of frozen dumplings. It also works well for sticky rice parcels, various bao and other steamable items
I haven't managed to figure out precise cooking times for different items, but I find between 15 to 20 minutes does the trick
Yes sad, I know. I'm currently in Bangkok though, but only for a two week conjugal visit.
But given that we are both facing the challenges of living alone and cooking in kitchenettes (two stove top elements, no oven, microwave) I thought I would begin a series on kitchenette cooking solutions
My most recent ingenious solution, if I do say so myself is pressure cooker dumplings
Take said frozen pre-purchased or pre-made dumpling from your freezer and place in a bamboo steamer
Place a cup of water and a rack inside your newly purchased pressure cooker
Place bamboo steamer on rack
Secure pressure cooker lid and place on stove top. Bring to pressure, reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes.
Turn off heat and let steam release slowly
Eat dumpling
This seriously speeds up the cooking of frozen dumplings. It also works well for sticky rice parcels, various bao and other steamable items
I haven't managed to figure out precise cooking times for different items, but I find between 15 to 20 minutes does the trick
I was doing something similar when I was de-microwaving my kitchen, but with a regular pot set up with an adjustable steamer rack. I know pressure cookers reduce the gas usage, but am still scared of them exploding.
I'm not sure how this is an improvement to regular steaming without a pressure cooker. The directions to my frozen Chinese dumplings say to steam in a regular pot for 15 mins, which is how long you steamed in a pressure cooker. In fact, regular steaming is probably faster because you merely need to reach a boil, without building pressure.