Sashimi is great, but steamed?!
Yes, this restaurant provides steamed seafood for those who prefer it cooked that way.
Bamboo steamers can cook food quickly while preserving the original taste.
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Steamed Seafood Health Benefits
The story begins when one of the young chefs at the restaurant was diagnosed with liver cancer. This was shocking news to everyone, most of all the owner. He thought there was nothing he could do to help his junior chef, except to make his meals healthier. That’s when they started testing steamed seafood and vegetables after hours every night at the restaurant. To their surprise, Sik Gaek, the owner, lost 36 lbs within 2 months by just eating steamed food for dinner.
As for the young chef? He received an update from his doctor that the cancer had been a misdiagnosis. “There’s something in there, but not cancer,” said Mr. Park, the restaurant owner. The scare turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Steaming
Steaming is one of the best cooking methods for maximizing taste and color, while retaining the most nutrients in vegetables and fish. Especially when the vegetables themselves have so much flavor, simply steaming them can produce a very satisfying and delicious dish.
Vegetables are sensitive to time, temperature and water content. You can retain vegetable nutrients by steaming, an easy cooking method that will give you to the most your vegetables have to offer.
Bamboo Steamer
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In China’s Yellow River Valley, early steam cookers, made of stoneware, have been found dating back as far as 5000 BCE. Steaming is considered a healthy cooking technique that can be used for many kinds of food.
Bamboo steamers are the traditional, healthy way to cook vegetables, fish, dim sum, dumplings and more. Steaming requires no oil and preserves more nutrients than other methods. Stackable layers let you cook a variety of foods at once.
You can easily steam a variety of vegetables with a nice piece of salmon or other fish on top. This is a perfect way to make a simple, clean, healthy meal in one pot in a very short amount of time.
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Fresh Seafood
Fresh seafood is delicious. In order to ensure the seafood’s hygiene and safety, Sik Gaek has a rule that live seafood must be inspected at least nine times. They must not have any cuts, and cannot be killed until ordered by a customer. The staff has to prepare the ingredients in the freezer storage area, which is kept at minus thirty degrees.
In the U.S., food management is very strict. If food poisoning occurs in a restaurant, it would have to close. Therefore, the restaurateur carefully keeps documentation showing when the seafood was purchased. To ensure safety, the proofs indicate where the seafood was caught, by who, and when.
Fresh seafood platter at Sik Gaek. (Bill Xie/NTD)
These scallops are from Long Island, New York – one of the most expensive in the whole United States and typically too expensive for most restaurants.
Fresh seafood platter at Sik Gaek. (Bill Xie/NTD)
Octopuses are imported from Indonesia. Octopuses from the U.S. are very small in size and only suitable for deep frying. Imported octopuses are bigger and can be steamed, fried, and roasted.
Sampling 2,000 Times
Whenever a new dish is created at Sik Gaek, it has to go through sampling at least two thousand times! Whenever the restaurant launches a new dish, all 50 employees taste it. Not just once, but ten, twenty, or even a hundred times. They don’t stop until the dish is refined and wins near unanimous approval.
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Fresh seafood platter at Sik Gaek. (Bill Xie/NTD)
Want to eat more and stay healthy? Steam your food!
Fresh seafood platter at Sik Gaek. (Bill Xie/NTD)
Sik Gaek
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