Freezing questions...

15 years ago

My husband and I went to a "big city" this weekend (well, bigger than our town, anyway) where there is a large Asian population...SO, I got to shop in a store that reminded me of my old days, living near Oakland Chinatown, a real treat for me as I was able to stock up on ingredients difficult or impossible to get around here.

One absolute favorite is Chinese Roast Duck. I have actually had dreams about it lately, I miss it so much. Yeah, there are recipes, but they actually start with a different species of duck than is routinely available, and it's a fairly complicated process anyway.

Has anybody tried freezing this? I would love to be able to buy 2 or 3 next time to have on hand when I get the craving. Some cooked meats freeze better than others though, and I'd hate to spend $14 on one and ruin it.

Another item is Gobo root...burdock...it has a wonderfully earthy flavor, with a texture I'd best describe as being like a woody sort of carrot. I'm pretty sure I've seen it sold frozen, but wonder how the quality is. I don't usually care for frozen carrots, as they seem mushy to me.

I bought a package of fresh chow fun noodles, the wide, flat rice noodles eaten pan fried with meats & vegetables or in soup, and I would have bought several if I knew I could freeze them successfully.

Char Siu...Chinese bbq pork is another thing that I can make at home, but generally just buy if I have a chance...never tried to freeze it, though.

And, coming from way another direction, has anyone tried freezing refried beans? Does it work? How about tamales?

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Comments (5)

teresa_nc7
15 years ago
Meats will freeze longer in the raw state than the cooked. You can keep some frozen raw meat and poultry for 12 months (or longer) but frozen cooked meat has a storage life of only about 3 months - that's for optimum flavor and condition.

Tamales can be frozen before being cooked and refried beans freeze fine up to 3 months or so. The noodles can be frozen just fine not cooked and not mixed up with any sauce. It's the moist gravy or sauce that cause noodles to get somewhat mushy after thawing from the frozen state.

Root vegetables do not freeze entirely successfully unless cooked and mashed. I would not freeze that root w/o cooking first.

Teresa
Rusty
15 years ago
Cooked tamales can be frozen.

That's the only way I've ever done it.

I'm not familar with the dishes you mention.
But I do know that cooked meats hold up better in the freezer if frozen in gravy or sauce.

Rusty
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triciae
15 years ago
When we make tamales it's always a couple hundred at one time because they are so labor intensive it's easier to invite friends, have an assembly line, & then divide the spoils of efforts (somebody always ends up with bloody hands from tying the tamales). We steam all of them on one day & the rest are frozen. I don't believe they've ever lasted us a full year but I know they freeze well after steaming for at least 6-8 months. I've never tried freezing before steaming.

/tricia
ci_lantro
15 years ago
I freeze refried beans all the time. They freeze great. I keep some canned ones on hand for DS to add to his after work nachos. He never uses a full can so I pop the leftover into the freezer & those will get mixed w/ fresh the next time I make burritos. I much prefer freshly cooked beans to the canned ones myself but he's generally so hungry that he doesn't care!

Before I got smart & started using the pressure cooker for pintos, I would cook up a couple of pounds of beans and freeze the extra w/ the bean juice in half gallon or quart milk cartons. Use a stapler to close the carton. That worked great for having cooked beans on hand for chili or making burritos.
jessyf
15 years ago
RachelEllen I just want to say I think you and I are the only people on this forum who enjoy gobo AND shiso! I could write poems about shiso....

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Freezing questions...

Comments (5)

teresa_nc7

Rusty

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triciae

ci_lantro

jessyf

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