1. Time-saving Tips and Tricks
Grocery shopping every day can be a chore, from selecting fresh ingredients to deciding what to cook and ensuring a balanced diet without repetition. It’s exhausting!
So, take some time over the weekend to plan your meals for the week or the next 3-4 days. This way, you can do your shopping in one go, saving time and ensuring a varied and nutritious diet.
Preparation is key: portioning and pre-cooking your meals before storing them in the freezer is a great time-saving strategy.
2. Purpose-driven Freezing
Freezing your meals with a specific purpose in mind will save you time on future preparations. Here are some tips based on common cooking methods and preferences:
– Fish: Use the head and tail for soup, and the body for stewing or frying.
– Poultry: Use the neck and middle bones for soup or bamboo shoots; the breast for boiling or noodle soups; and the wings and thighs for grilling or frying.
– Pork: Use lean meat for boiling; three-layer meat for stewing or grilling; and ribs for soup, noodles, or frying.
– Shrimp: Grind and freeze for soup, or marinate and freeze for grilling or baking.
3. Preventing Food from Sticking Together in the Freezer
The best way to avoid this is to store each portion separately. However, if you’re short on freezer space, you can place them together in one container, ensuring a gap between each portion. This way, you can easily remove as much as you need without defrosting the entire batch:
– Maintain a gap between each portion.
– Use banana leaves (double-layered), foil, plastic wrap, or aluminum foil as dividers.
– Shake or separate the items when they are partially frozen (after about 4 hours in the freezer) if they are crustaceans (shrimp, crab, etc.).
4. Preventing Food from Becoming Soggy or Losing Flavor During Defrosting
– Shrimp and other crustaceans: Either cook and freeze or soak in a brine solution.
– Beef: Slice and mix with a small amount of oil to prevent water release during defrosting. Marinate if you already have a specific dish in mind.
Some Basic Rules for Freezing and Defrosting
– Always use safe, food-grade storage materials.
– Freeze in airtight containers, minimizing the amount of residual air.
– Do not refreeze once defrosted.
– If freezing cooked food, cool and freeze as soon as possible to reduce the risk of bacterial contamination.
We hope these tips help you spend less time in the kitchen and more time doing the things you love!
According to Phap Luat va Ban Doc (Law and Readers)
