How you can Use a Freezer as a Cooking Software

The wonders of the freezer as a software for preserving meals are apparent, however the freezer can do much more than simply retailer meals. It will also be used as a cooking instrument. A few of these methods have been written about on Severe Eats earlier than. There’s cryo-shucking clams and different shellfish; cryo-blanching greens and herbs like basil; tenderizing octopus; and hardening up squishy pork fats to make slicing simpler.

Nevertheless, there are different potentialities. Should you had been to seek the advice of the Chinese language home-cooking playbook, you’d discover a entire host of methods that use the freezer to remodel the textures of meals and improve flavors in ways in which could be tough to attain in any other case.

Many of those methods predate using trendy freezers. In Northeast China, it was frequent observe to retailer fruits, greens, and different substances outdoors the house through the winter, uncovered to snowy sub-zero temperatures. A few of the substances could be saved there all through the season after which eaten within the hotter months, however others could be cooked and eaten through the chilly season. And when these substances had been introduced again indoors and thawed, they’d be markedly totally different, altered in basic methods. As an example how the freezing course of can change substances, and for concepts for learn how to make the most of these modifications to provide scrumptious meals, let’s take a look at the precise examples under, every of which has an accompanying recipe.

Roasted Frozen Candy Potatoes

My favourite software of this concept can be one of many easiest. In the course of the winter, in lots of East Asian cities, together with Hong Kong, the place I grew up, you’ll discover roasted candy potato distributors parked on avenue corners. On one finish of a small cart is an enormous wok stuffed with pebbles, heated with coal. The seller regularly tosses the pebbles within the wok together with candy potatoes to provide superbly caramelized wok-roasted candy potatoes with shiny, fluffy flesh and a skinny, papery, toasted pores and skin. In cities with colder climates, the distributors are in a position to persistently obtain this cloud-like texture by first freezing the entire candy potatoes earlier than they’re roasted, both by permitting them to naturally freeze on the cart in ambient sub-zero temps or, in no less than in just a few circumstances I do know of in Hong Kong, by intentionally putting them in a freezer.

Because the candy potato freezes, the water that’s contained in the candy potato kinds ice crystals, which have sharp and jagged edges that puncture the cell partitions of the flesh, altering the feel of the potato such that when it is roasted, it comes out extra tender and fluffy. Based mostly on additional testing of this system by Tim Chin (spoiler: he discovered this freeze-roast technique produces probably the most scrumptious bakes candy potato by far), there’s an additional benefit to the freezing step. By decreasing the potato’s beginning temperature after which roasting it whereas nonetheless frozen, the potato spends much more time in a really particular temperature zone between 135°F to 170°F (57°C to 76°C), the temperature vary by which a pure enzyme within the potato referred to as amylase begins working extra time to transform complicated starches into candy maltose sugar. That is one thing Kenji takes benefit of in his roasted candy potato and mashed candy potato recipes as effectively.

The result’s a gorgeously roasted candy potato with a deep sweetness and a texture paying homage to candy potato pie. It is fantastic eaten straight out-of-hand, however I additionally whipped up a easy however flavorful presentation by which the roasted frozen candy potato is topped with gentle and tangy whipped creme fraiche and sprinkled with granola.

I’ve discovered that this system works greatest on sweeter forms of candy potatoes, resembling purple-fleshed candy potatoes or Carolina ruby yams, the place the naturally excessive moisture content material exaggerates the impact of the freezing. On the flip facet, roasting frozen white-fleshed Okinawan candy potatoes (and common Russet potatoes) is not as efficient.

Ice-Poached (“Cryo-Macerated”) Fruits

The delicacies of Northeast China is deeply rooted in native agricultural practices, one in every of which is freezing fruits within the winter. One instance of this are the Asian pears which are frozen and thawed repeatedly till the once-beige skins flip black and the interiors soften and burst with the juices.

The standard approach of consuming the pear is to puncture the pores and skin of the fruit along with your enamel and suck up the pure syrup, after which you’ll be able to eat the fruit in bigger bites. The freezing and thawing course of transforms the pear, picked when it is onerous and bitter, right into a delight by itself. It nonetheless retains its uncooked pear taste and tastes virtually impossibly recent, however its texture is comfortable, with a slight crispness, as if it had been expertly poached.

What occurs inside the pear is much like what occurs inside the candy potato, however after all the pears aren’t subsequently cooked. Nevertheless, the repeated freezing and thawing causes massive, slow-forming ice crystals to interrupt aside the cell partitions within the fruit flesh, releasing taste compounds and sugars. The method additionally damages the pores and skin, inflicting it to oxidize (and thus blacken), however the pores and skin stays intact, and I’ve discovered that it naturally protects the fruit flesh from freezer burn, making it doable to go away the pears within the freezer for a number of months with no in poor health results. To borrow a time period from wine making that describes freezing grapes earlier than fermentation to weaken the skins and extract extra tannin and taste, the pear is successfully “cryo-macerated.”

The method use for cryo-macerated or ice-poached pears is used for different fruits in Northeast China. Persimmons, peaches, and cherries are all subjected to an identical course of to create snacks that are actually eaten yr round. And the method has large functions, resembling in my extra composed recipe for the ice-poached pears: it is a tackle “poached” pears served with a light-weight syrup, on this case flavored with Chinese language medicinal substances like goji berries, apricot kernels, and osmanthus.

To increase on this concept outdoors of conventional Chinese language delicacies, one can think about freezing fruits like apples, plums, and apricots to jumpstart the method of extracting sweetness and taste from them as effectively, with out having to prepare dinner them down, for uncooked jams, jellies, cobblers, or desserts.

Extremely-Absorbent Frozen Tofu

In a savory context, frozen tofu is a well-liked instance of altering the feel of an ingredient by freezing it. Frozen tofu takes on a yellow hue and a extra porous texture, which not solely provides the tofu chewiness and a meat-like bounce, but additionally a sponge-like high quality that permits it to soak up liquids and ship extra taste in each chunk. The impact is achieved, as soon as once more, with the assistance of ice crystals, which increase as they kind, tearing aside the tofu’s coagulated protein construction. When the tofu thaws, the water drains out by means of this internet of lacerations, leaving tiny pockets of air all through.

To boost this impact, it is best to softly squeeze the thawed tofu between your palms, expressing much more water and rising the tofu’s absorptive potential whereas concentrating the flavour of the tofu itself.

Frozen tofu is eaten most frequently in sizzling pots, braises, soups, and saucy dishes the place the spongy texture can take in the cooking liquid. Even within the easiest of liquids, as in my recipe for frozen tofu simmered with Napa cabbage, pork, and slightly ginger and garlic, the tofu turns into juicy and substantial in a approach that recent tofu merely will not.

Cryo-Blanching Greens

Blanching greens includes in a short time boiling them in salted water till simply tender, then stunning them in ice water to sit back them down and cease the cooking. The thought is to tenderize the greens and prepare dinner them simply sufficient whereas retaining their recent taste and shiny inexperienced shade. The freezer, because it seems, can be utilized to comparable impact.

By freezing skinny greens resembling string beans, peas, asparagus and extra, ice crystals shortly kind, puncturing cell partitions to create a like-cooked texture whereas sustaining a recent uncooked taste. Learn extra about the science of the method right here.

Cryo-Shucking Clams

Shucking clams by hand takes slightly observe earlier than it turns into a fast and simple course of, however even for individuals who are adept at it, shucking a lot of clams continues to be a chore. Fortunately, the freezer may be put to good use right here, and all it takes is slightly superior prep. By putting stay clams in a freezer, the chilly itself kills them. As soon as frozen, all it’s a must to do is watch for the clams to defrost and so they’ll pop open one after the other, prepared so that you can use in no matter dish you need.

This does not make sense to make use of in all clam-cooking situations, since you may also open clams by cooking them, however in any occasion the place you wish to prepare dinner the clam meat with out the shells, it is an ideal method to have in your pocket.

Different Purposes

These are only a few examples of how freezers can be utilized to govern each the feel and taste of meals. When contemplating how else to make use of the freezer in comparable methods, it is useful to bear in mind two (associated) results freezing has on substances—softening and moisture loss—to find out whether or not utilizing the freezer is likely to be a good suggestion.

When contemplating softening, ask your self whether or not there’s more likely to be any profit to reaching a looser, extra tender, and probably spongier texture. Root greens like beets and taro, for instance, may profit from the softening results of the freezer, as that’s the last word texture we often search for. However leafy greens, cabbage, or Brussels sprouts, then again, would develop into limp and unappealing for a stir-fry by which you need the greens to retain a little bit of crispness.

As for moisture loss, it is an inevitable impact when freezing most substances, due to all that mobile harm from the ice crystals. Whereas it really works wonders with candy potatoes, pears, tofu, and extra, it may be an issue with substances like meats, the place you wish to retain as a lot moisture as doable. If doubtful, although, keep in mind that there’s little hurt in experimentation. Chances are you’ll simply come upon a wholly new method to put together and revel in one in every of your favourite meals.

Dec 2021