Hubei No Feast Can Do without Steaming 湖北“无蒸不成宴”

湖北最具特色的烹调技术要数蒸和煨了，在江汉平原的乡村，办红白喜事“不上格子（蒸笼格）不请客”，“无蒸不成宴”。湖北的蒸菜有数百道，清蒸、粉蒸、扣蒸、干蒸、炮蒸、酿蒸等，菜品之丰，技法之多，味型之广，在全国独树一帜。
The most distinctive cooking skill used in Hubei is steaming and stewing. In the villages on Jianghan Plain, in weddings and funerals, “without a grid (steamer grid) it is impossible to entertain guests”, and “a feast cannot be made without steaming”. There are several hundred steamed dishes, including those steamed in clear soup, steamed with rice flower, button steaming, dry steaming, gun steaming and brew steaming etc. The variety of dishes, the number of techniques and the wide range of tastes have led to Hubei dishes becoming a style of their own.
在各种烹饪技法中，“蒸”最受推崇。这是因为蒸最能体现食物的真味，有句话叫“回归本味吃蒸菜”就是这个道理。蒸菜对原料要求极为苛刻，任何不鲜不洁的菜，一蒸就暴露无遗。蒸菜保持了菜肴的原形、原汁、原味，在很大程度上保存菜的各种营养素。
Out of all of the different kinds of cooking techniques, “steaming” is the most popular one, because steaming can best reveal the authentic taste of a food. As a saying goes, “eat steamed dishes for the original taste”. The creation of steamed dishes involves stringent requirements in terms of raw materials. Any ingredients which are not fresh and no clean will be completely unmasked as soon as they are steamed. Steamed food retains its original style, original soups and original flavors. It sustains its extensive nutritional value in the form of soups.
火大、水多、时间短，是蒸法七字诀。原料要新鲜，食物质地要嫩、多汁，像牛蹄筋等干硬的东西，不适合蒸。可以在蒸制前使原料入味，浸渍加味的时间要长，且不能用辛辣味重的调味品，否则会抑制原料本身的鲜味。鱼类、蔬菜类等要用旺火沸水速蒸，时间为15分钟左右。对质地粗老，要求蒸得酥烂的原料，应采用旺火沸水长时间蒸，如香酥鸭、粉蒸肉等。原料鲜嫩的菜肴，如蛋类等采用中火、小火慢慢蒸。
A high fire, lots of water and short cooking times are the secret of success in steaming. The raw materials should be fresh and the texture of food should be tender and juicy. Dry and hard items such as the beef tendon are not suitable for steaming. The raw materials used are tasty before steaming and the dipping and flavoring process should be long enough. Additionally, condiments with strong spicy flavor cannot be used as they will cause the freshness of raw ingredients to be stifled. Fish and vegetables should be rapidly steamed at high temperatures with boiling water. The duration of steaming should be 15 minutes or so. The raw materials of rough and old textures need to be steamed to a crisp and soft ingredients should be steamed for a long time with high temperature and boiling water; such dishes include crispy fried chicken and steamed pork with rice flour etc. Dishes made of fresh and soft raw materials, such as egg should be steamed with medium baking temperature or soft fire slowly.
蒸菜时，还要注意分层摆放，汤水少的菜放在上面，汤水多的菜放在下面，淡色菜放在上面，深色菜放在下面，不易熟的菜放在上面，易熟的菜放在下面。
When steaming the dishes, they should be put on different layers. The dish with the least soup should be put at the top and the dish with most soup shall be put at the bottom. In addition, the light colored dishes shall be put at the top and the deep colored dishes shall be put at the bottom. The dishes which are not easily cooked thoroughly shall be put at the top and the dishes which are easily cooked thoroughly should be put at the bottom.