Are you squeezing your brain juices dry, thinking of new & trendy places for your next healthier yummy food expedition? If so, look no further and make reservations at Just Steam now.
Steam Potting?
Founded in November 2016, Just Steam is a Chinese casual dining restaurant that specialises in “Steam Potting”. For the uninitiated, steam potting involves the use of an innovative high-speed steamer that cooks the food under 6 minutes. Thanks to the fast cooking time, diners are able to enjoy the natural taste of the food, as the flavours are better retained (thus marinates are redundant). And yes, this means yummy but healthier food.
Credit: Hungrygowhere
The Menu
Just Steam offers a wide variety of ingredients, ranging from seafood, meats, vegetables and even dim sum! We totally love how the set menu simplifies our ordering. All we need is to pick our choice, and then the number of diners. We ordered the Superior Set A (find the picture below) for 2 at SGD 99, and trust us when we say the portion is more than enough to feed 3 grown-up ladies. If you prefer to mix and match your own ingredients, you can choose to pick ala carte items off the menu.
The Cooking Experience
Our team watched in excitement when the service staff poured rice grains, dried baby shrimps, and water into the ceramic dome. A steaming tray is then placed to separate the bottom hemisphere. The rest of the ingredients were then laid out on the steaming tray and covered with a lid. The preparation ended off with the service staff setting the countdown timer for us.
We were surprised that within a few minutes, hot steam already engulfed the lid. Later, we learnt that juices from the ingredients actually dripped through the tray into the dome during steaming. Hence, turning the rice grains into flavourful congee.
The Food
Taste & Texture
In less than a few minutes, our seafood platter goes from being raw to cook, just in time to tame our hungry and impatient souls.
The steamed seafood not only boost an intense aroma of ocean spray, but the savoury-sweet and fresh crustacean flavours (or should I say juices) just burst in our mouth with every bite. In fact, we were surprised at how succulent the prawns and scallops tasted. Indeed the steam-potting technique lives up its name, by being able to seal in the natural juices of the ingredients. We don’t even need any sauces.
We especially love how the seabass is not tough or rubbery, but slightly tender and easy to chew on, just the perfect doneness we wanted. The credit has to go to the steam potting equipment, which comes with water containers to ensure a steady supply of water to the pot. This prevents the pot from drying out and minimises the chances of overcooking our fish.
In fact, we would say the possibilities of overcooking the food is minimal, as Just Steam is attentive enough to provide the steaming guidelines (below) for every table.
Appearance
Thankfully, our vegetables turned out to be a beautiful verdant bright green shade, and not fade into some sad-looking grey leaves (like what we get while eating steamboat). This literally eliminates the necessity of Instagram filters. We were also glad that the cabbage and golden mushroom were not limp or pasty too, or produce any unpleasant sulphuric smell.
Later, we learnt that steam-potting actually kept the vegetables as close to their natural raw state as possible, whilst still heating through thoroughly. Thus, maintaining the structure, colour, and flavour. No wonder, our vegetables tasted sweet and crunchy. In fact, we were surprised that the steamed golden mushroom carries a buttery, yet non-cloying flavour.
Nutritionally Enhanced Food
Though we don’t nutritionally analyse the food at Just Steam, but we are definitely sure that the food is “nutrient loaded”.
In fact, a study found that when vegetables (eg. broccoli) were steamed, 81 % of vitamin C were retained, and this is almost thrice the amount as compared to boiling the broccoli. The wonderful thing is, steaming prevents the loss of certain enzymes (such as myrosinase in broccoli), which can enhance the antioxidant properties of the vegetables.
All we can say is, the “Steam Potting” that Just Steam adopted, definitely makes our inner health conscious persons very delighted.
Must Order
If you’re a fan of glutinous rice, you definitely don’t want to leave Just Steam without sinking your teeth in their Crab Glutinous Rice. This dish is prepared with pieces of tender mushrooms and chewy Chinese sausage hidden among the grains, with crabs nicely placed on top of it. All the crab juices flow down and are absorbed by the rice, thus adding sweetness to the already flavourful rice. Even till now, we are still having a difficult time getting over its taste.
