It is an invaluable tool in a Chinese kitchen: a plate lifter. Steaming is one of the most common techniques in Chinese cooking. A plate or a bowl is often buried deep in a steamer to cook food. This tool can safely lift a hot container out of the steamer without burning your hands.
You can get this plate lifter in just about any Chinatown grocery store. They are often tucked behind shelves full of cooking spatulas and wok brushes. Trust me you really need it to cook Chinese. Heck! You can use it for whenever you need to lift something out of a deep container. Go get one!
Where can I buy this particular lifter? The one on the market right now is not three pronged.
You can buy these steamer tools in many Chinatown grocery stores. There are a few different designs of this tool. One type that looks more like tongs works just as well.
Wow, these things don’t change, do they? My mother used to have one of these in her kitchen almost 50 years ago, and it looked exactly the same.