Food Prep & Freezing

I recently realised that food prep and freezing has many advantages.  It's a safe way of preserving food for consumption later and it saves you a lot of cooking time too.  And I learned that from phonghong bakes & cooks.

When life gets hectic and you're hard pressed for time to get a home-cooked meal on the table, it's wonderful to be able to reach out into the freezer and instantly reheat (steam, microwave or bake) something in a jiffy that you can eat in a matter of minutes.  Most  food can be reheated by steaming directly from their frozen state while some can be defrosted and reheated in the microwave oven.  But baked or grilled food is best thawed and reheated in the toaster oven (or oven).

If you intend to embark on this food prep and freezing thingy, you have to (first of all) invest in freezer-friendly storage containers.  Well, I don't mind at all since I love to collect (more like hoard) containers of any kind.

You can always buy a few first and then, over time, gradually add on to your collection.  I did that and I think I have a pretty sizeable collection for now...for my needs..though not quite nearly as many as phonghong has (hehe!)...but then she preps for two, I usually prep for one! ;)

Now that I have a good stock of containers, I better put these containers to good use and do some food prep and freezing with them.  But, of course, not everything taste great frozen and then defrosted, some will obviously be better than others.  Over time, by trial and error, I was able to pick out the ones which fared better frozen and eliminate those that weren't as successful.

#1 - Meat (Chicken)


One of the most ideal meat to cook and freeze is chicken.  The meat holds up immensely well frozen and doesn't lose its flavour or texture when defrosted and reheated.  I usually braise it with ginger, mushrooms or potatoes.

#1.1 - Braised Chicken with Ginger

#1.2 - Braised Chicken with Mushrooms

#1.3 - Oyster Sauce Chicken with Potatoes

 

The only thing you have to remember when dealing with potatoes is to undercook them as they become even softer when reheated from a frozen state.

#2 - Meat (Pork)


The other meat that's great for freezing is pork...especially if it's minced where it'll taste good even if they're not eaten in a super tender state.

#2.1 - Sweet & Sour Pork Meatballs


(for recipe, click here)

#2.2 - Luncheon Meat with Potato, Egg & Green Beans


(for recipe, click here)

#3 - Meat (Beef)

I won't choose dishes like stir-fry beef (or pork) for freezing coz this is best eaten when the meat is tender to the bite.  Those that require the meat to be minced or in sauces are more suitable for freezing.

#3.1 - Minced Beef Bolognese

Tomato-based pasta sauces (with either minced pork, beef or chicken) are really good for freezing.  All that's needed is to boil up some pasta and you can have spaghetti bolognese, pronto (for recipe, click here).

#4 - Vegetables

I initially thought that vegetables wouldn't be ideal as I felt they won't stand up to freezing and reheating.  How wrong I was.  I was most impressed at how well some of them took to freezing.

#4.1 Stir-Fry Green Beans with Minced Pork

(for recipe, click here)

#4.2 - Potatoes with Mushrooms, Beancurd Puffs & Onions

#4.3 - Fried Turnip with Shredded Carrot & Dried Cuttlefish


This dish is extremely ideal for food prep as their flavours get even better after being kept (for recipe, click here).

#4.4  Sauteed Eggplant with Minced Pork

#4.5 - Wong Nga Pak (Chinese Cabbage) Stir-Fry

The key thing to remember is to choose vegetables that taste good when eaten in a soft state (like the selections above) and not vegetables that need to be eaten with a crunch.

#4.6 - Stir-Fry Yin Choy with Garlic


I actually thought green leafy vegetables weren't a suitable candidate for freezing until I tried it once with yin choy.  We know that green vegetables tend to turn yellow if covered right after cooking while they're still hot.  So, make sure they're cooled before covering and storing in the freezer.

I was amazed at the results of my experimentation with yin choy.  The first photo (on the left) showed the vegetables in their frozen state.  The upper right hand photo was after thawing...still green.  The lower right hand photo was after reheating...and amazingly it still retains its vibrant green colour!  The conclusion is...if you can do it with yin choy, you can pretty much do it with any green leafy vegetable but choose only those which taste good eaten soft.

#4.7 - Roasted Broccoli, Cauliflower & Capsicum


Any vegetables (or potatoes) that are roasted or baked is totally perfect for freezing as well.  Great as a salad on its own or as a side vegetable with a protein (for recipe, click here).

#4.8 - Roasted Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes


Any kind of potatoes is welcomed as a side dish (for recipe, click here).

#4.9 - Cottage Pie


I reheat baked and grilled food by thawing them first before reheating them in my toaster oven (for recipe, click here).

#5 - Egg

#5.1 - Fried Omelette with Minced Pork & Scallions


Eggs (especially omelettes) keep very well frozen.  You can make your omelette with any filling you like.  Simply defrost and stick it into the toaster oven to reheat.

#6 - Soups


Soups are good for freezing too, after all, we make broth and freeze them all the time for use in our cooking.  If I had to freeze clear soups (especially when there are leftovers), I'd choose those vegetables which can withstand freezing and become softer like radish, salted vegetable or lotus root.

#6.1 - Vegetables & Tomato Soup

And I love to store frozen soups in my freezer as they come in real handy when I want something warm on a cold, rainy evening (for recipe, click here).

#7 - Rice

I keep leftover plain rice in the freezer, so, in the same context, any kind of cooked rice is also desirable for freezing.

#7.1 - Fried Rice



#7.2 - Claypot Chicken Rice


Whether self-cooked or otherwise...hehe!

So, thanks to phonghongbakes & cooks for inspiring me to do food prep and freezing, I now do this quite frequently.  Though what you can have may be somewhat limited (as not all food is tasty when thawed and reheated), there are still some good choices available if you make your selections wisely.  For even more ideas on food prep, you can refer to her blog posts here, here, here, here, here and here.

I think meat dishes work best when prepped for freezing.  I wouldn't recommend seafood for freezing though I've not attempted it myself.  You can try but I prefer to eat fish, prawns and squid when they're freshly cooked.

The next time you cook, you might want to make extra for freezing.  It's great to be able to rummage through your freezer and have something that you can reheat at a moment's notice.  I find it really convenient on days when I'm too lazy to cook or don't wish to go out and eat.  There's nothing better than having dinner on speed-dial, don't you think? ^_~