Tell me if you have ever found yourself in this situation. You order shrimp and broccoli with white rice from the local Chinese delivery place and you don't eat it all that evening. You put the leftover in the refrigerator and decide to have it the next night for dinner. The next night, when you get home, you take it out of the refrigerator and heat it in the microwave. The results are not good. The shrimp and broccoli are too hot and they are now "rubbery". The rice is still cold and it has the texture of uncooked millet seed. The dish you are having tonight has nothing whatever in common with the delicious dish of shrimp with broccoli over rice you had the night before. What happened? Do you sit and suffer through this most unpleasant dining experience? Or do you toss it and order a pizza? It is wasteful to throw out perfectly good food just because the microwave cannot heat it properly. Well, I have the solution for you. Steam it!!
Grab a large covered pan from the cupboard and fill it with about one inch of water. Set it over a high flame. While the water is heating, transfer your broccoli and shrimp and rice from the plastic or paper containers it came in into a small stainless steel bowl.
Set the stainless steel bowl in the center of the pot with the simmering hot water and place the lid on the pot. Let the pot steam for about 15 minutes. You just got home, so feed the dog and sort the mail while your Chinese dinner is steaming. Remove the lid and test the temperature of the rice with your finger. If it is warm enough for you, remove the stainless steel bowl and spoon your dinner into a dinner bowl. If not, leave it in the pot to steam for another five minutes.
Once it has reached the perfect temperature for you, remove it to a bowl or dinner plate. The steam brings everything back to the perfect temperature and consistency. The shrimp and broccoli are perfectly steamed and as delicious at the previous night. The rice is soft and a perfect consistency. You can now enjoy this wonderful meal for a second night by using this age old process of reheating. I hope you will try this the next time you have leftover Chinese.
Grab a large covered pan from the cupboard and fill it with about one inch of water. Set it over a high flame. While the water is heating, transfer your broccoli and shrimp and rice from the plastic or paper containers it came in into a small stainless steel bowl.
Set the stainless steel bowl in the center of the pot with the simmering hot water and place the lid on the pot. Let the pot steam for about 15 minutes. You just got home, so feed the dog and sort the mail while your Chinese dinner is steaming. Remove the lid and test the temperature of the rice with your finger. If it is warm enough for you, remove the stainless steel bowl and spoon your dinner into a dinner bowl. If not, leave it in the pot to steam for another five minutes.
Once it has reached the perfect temperature for you, remove it to a bowl or dinner plate. The steam brings everything back to the perfect temperature and consistency. The shrimp and broccoli are perfectly steamed and as delicious at the previous night. The rice is soft and a perfect consistency. You can now enjoy this wonderful meal for a second night by using this age old process of reheating. I hope you will try this the next time you have leftover Chinese.
