Learn how to Use a Freezer as a Cooking Instrument

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

Nevertheless, there are different potentialities. In case 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 rework the textures of meals and improve flavors in ways in which can be troublesome to realize in any other case.

Many of those methods predate using trendy freezers. In Northeast China, it was widespread observe to retailer fruits, greens, and different substances exterior the house through the winter, uncovered to snowy sub-zero temperatures. A few of the substances can be saved 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 substances had been introduced again indoors and thawed, they’d be markedly totally different, altered in basic methods. For instance how the freezing course of can change substances, and for concepts for the right way to benefit from these modifications to provide scrumptious meals, let us take a look at the particular examples beneath, every of which has an accompanying recipe.

Roasted Frozen Candy Potatoes

My favourite software of this concept can be one of many easiest. Throughout 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 a large wok crammed with pebbles, heated with coal. The seller frequently 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 constantly 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 not 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 types 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 system by Tim Chin (spoiler: he found this freeze-roast method produces the most delicious bakes sweet potato by far), there’s an additional advantage 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 wherein a pure enzyme within the potato referred to as amylase begins working time beyond regulation to transform complicated starches into candy maltose sugar. That is one thing Kenji takes benefit of in his roasted sweet potato and mashed sweet potato recipes as nicely.

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

I’ve discovered that this system works finest on sweeter types of candy potatoes, corresponding 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 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, certainly one 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 method of consuming the pear is to puncture the pores and skin of the fruit along with your tooth 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 nearly impossibly recent, however its texture is delicate, with a slight crispness, as if it had been expertly poached.

What occurs throughout the pear is just like what occurs throughout the candy potato, however in fact 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 potential 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 the same course of to create snacks that at the moment are eaten 12 months round. And the method has vast functions, corresponding to in my extra composed recipe for the ice-poached pears: it is a take on “poached” pears served with a light syrup, in this case flavored with Chinese medicinal ingredients like goji berries, apricot kernels, and osmanthus.

To develop on this concept exterior 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 nicely, with out having to cook 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 enables 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 develop as they kind, tearing aside the tofu’s coagulated protein construction. When the tofu thaws, the water drains out by way of this internet of lacerations, leaving tiny pockets of air all through.

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

Frozen tofu is eaten most frequently in scorching 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 little ginger and garlic, the tofu turns into juicy and substantial in a method 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 concept is to tenderize the greens and cook dinner them simply sufficient whereas retaining their recent taste and shiny inexperienced colour. The freezer, because it seems, can be utilized to related impact.

By freezing skinny greens corresponding to 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 technique here.

Cryo-Shucking Clams

Shucking clams by hand takes a bit 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 a bit superior prep. By putting dwell 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 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 wish to cook dinner the clam meat with out the shells, it is an important method to have in your pocket.

Different Functions

These are just some 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 related methods, it is useful to remember two (associated) results freezing has on substances—softening and moisture loss—to find out whether or not utilizing the freezer could be a good suggestion.

When contemplating softening, ask your self whether or not there’s prone to be any profit to reaching 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 last word texture we normally search for. However leafy greens, cabbage, or Brussels sprouts, however, would turn out to be limp and unappealing for a stir-fry wherein 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 injury 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 potential. If unsure, although, keep in mind that there’s little hurt in experimentation. Chances are you’ll simply come across a completely new approach to put together and revel in certainly one of your favourite meals.

Dec 2021