Can food be cooked in a microwave oven? You bet – and hey, it’s easier and safer than cooking the traditional way
Contrary to popular belief, cooking food in a microwave won’t ruin it or cause your house to blow up, argues Andrew Sun. In fact, it could save you a lot of time and energy in the kitchen. But don’t you dare reheat pizza in one, OK?
It’s not uncommon for my friends to say to me: “What the hell is wrong with you?” The latest episode of Andrew Is Weird was when I mentioned that I sometimes steam fish in the microwave.
Yes, you read that rightI sometimes prepare Cantonese-style steamed fish using that most belittled of kitchen appliances. The more paranoid among us still consider it a radiation death trap. But my working mom discovered she could cook fish this way and now I do the same thing. Done properly, it tastes just as good as cooked the traditional, and more dangerous, way.
Hear me out. With the nuker, you take your fish, cling-film it on a dish, poke a couple of holes for steam to escape and set it to cook for five to seven minutes at medium heat (timing depends on the oven). Easy-peasy.
Alternatively, you can engage in the heavy work of getting out the wok, filling it with water, wait for it to boil, then delicately crane the plate on top of the bubbling water while praying your oven-mitted hands don’t slip, drop the fish and splash scalding hot water all over. Fish definitely tastes much better immediately after cooking it than after spending several hours in the hospital emergency ward.
For 50 years, microwaves have been in our kitchens, but there’s still a lot of lingering concern about their dangers and hazards. The next time your colleagues nuke a cup of tea in the office pantry, watch how they’ll instinctively take a couple of steps back.
