Food steamer

In Ancient China, pottery steamers were used to cook food.

Archaeological excavations have uncovered pottery cooking vessels known as yan steamers: a yan was composed of two vessels, a zeng with a perforated floor surmounted on a pot or caldron with a tripod base and a top cover.

The earliest yan steamer dating from about 5000 BC was unearthed in the Banpo site.

[1] In the lower Yangzi River, zeng pots first appeared in the Hemudu culture (5000–4500 BC) and Liangzhu culture (3200–2000 BC) and were used to steam rice; yan steamers were also unearthed in several Liangzhu sites, including 3 found at the Chuodun and Luodun sites in southern Jiangsu.

[2] In the Longshan culture (3000–2000 BC) site at Tianwang in western Shandong, 3 large yan steamers were discovered.