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 strategies 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.

Nonetheless, there are different potentialities. If you happen to have been to seek the advice of the Chinese language home-cooking playbook, you’d discover a complete host of strategies that use the freezer to rework the textures of meals and improve flavors in ways in which can be troublesome to realize in any other case.

Many of those strategies predate the usage of fashionable freezers. In Northeast China, it was widespread apply to retailer fruits, greens, and different elements outdoors the house through the winter, uncovered to snowy sub-zero temperatures. Among the elements can be stored there all through the season after which eaten within the hotter months, however others can be cooked and eaten through the chilly season. And when these elements have been introduced again indoors and thawed, they’d be markedly completely different, altered in basic methods. For instance how the freezing course of can change elements, and for concepts for the way to benefit from these adjustments to supply scrumptious meals, let’s take a look at the particular examples beneath, every of which has an accompanying recipe.

Roasted Frozen Candy Potatoes

My favourite utility of this concept can also be one of many easiest. Through 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 frequently tosses the pebbles within the wok together with candy potatoes to supply 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 capable of 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 a minimum of in a couple of circumstances I do know of in Hong Kong, by intentionally inserting 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. Primarily based on additional testing of this method by Tim Chin (spoiler: he discovered this freeze-roast technique produces essentially the most scrumptious bakes candy potato by far), there’s an additional advantage to the freezing step. By reducing 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 through 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 properly.

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

I’ve discovered that this method works greatest on sweeter kinds of candy potatoes, equivalent to 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 aspect, 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 among 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 normal means 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 laborious and bitter, right into a delight by itself. It nonetheless retains its uncooked pear taste and tastes virtually impossibly contemporary, however its texture is mushy, with a slight crispness, as if it had been expertly poached.

What occurs throughout the pear is much like what occurs throughout the candy potato, however in fact the pears aren’t subsequently cooked. Nonetheless, the repeated freezing and thawing causes giant, 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 depart the pears within the freezer for a number of months with no unwell 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 approach use for cryo-macerated or ice-poached pears is used for different fruits in Northeast China. Persimmons, peaches, and cherries are all subjected to the same course of to create snacks that at the moment are eaten 12 months round. And the approach has broad purposes, equivalent to in my extra composed recipe for the ice-poached pears: it is a tackle “poached” pears served with a lightweight syrup, on this case flavored with Chinese language medicinal elements like goji berries, apricot kernels, and osmanthus.

To broaden 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 properly, 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 offers the tofu chewiness and a meat-like bounce, but in addition 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 broaden as they type, tearing aside the tofu’s coagulated protein construction. When the tofu thaws, the water drains out by means of this net 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 absorb the cooking liquid. Even within the easiest of liquids, as in my recipe for frozen tofu simmered with Napa cabbage, pork, and a bit ginger and garlic, the tofu turns into juicy and substantial in a means that contemporary tofu merely will not.

Cryo-Blanching Greens

Blanching greens includes in a short time boiling them in salted water till simply tender, then surprising 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 contemporary taste and shiny inexperienced coloration. The freezer, because it seems, can be utilized to related impact.

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

Cryo-Shucking Clams

Shucking clams by hand takes a bit apply earlier than it turns into a fast and straightforward course of, however even for many who are adept at it, shucking numerous clams remains to be a chore. Fortunately, the freezer could be put to good use right here, and all it takes is a bit superior prep. By inserting dwell clams in a freezer, the chilly itself kills them. As soon as frozen, all it’s important 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 want.

This does not make sense to make use of in all clam-cooking eventualities, since you may as well open clams by cooking them, however in any occasion the place you need to prepare dinner the clam meat with out the shells, it is an amazing approach to have in your pocket.

Different Functions

These are just some examples of how freezers can be utilized to control each the feel and taste of meals. When contemplating how else to make use of the freezer in related methods, it is useful to bear in mind two (associated) results freezing has on elements—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 attaining a looser, extra tender, and doubtlessly spongier texture. Root greens like beets and taro, for instance, may profit from the softening results of the freezer, as that’s the final word texture we often search for. However leafy greens, cabbage, or Brussels sprouts, however, would change into limp and unappealing for a stir-fry through which you need the greens to retain a little bit of crispness.

As for moisture loss, it is an inevitable impact when freezing most elements, because of all that mobile injury from the ice crystals. Whereas it really works wonders with candy potatoes, pears, tofu, and extra, it may be an issue with elements like meats, the place you need to retain as a lot moisture as doable. If doubtful, although, do not forget that there’s little hurt in experimentation. You could simply come across a wholly new method to put together and revel in one among your favourite meals.

Dec 2021