bulk cooking for a Chinese family?
May 19, 2013 4:08 PM Subscribe
For various reasons, I need to cook 15 servings at a time and leave them frozen in individual containers to be eaten over the next week. This sounds like a perfect fit for a bulk cooking plan, except all of the bulk cooking recipes I can find are written for a more American palate. Can anyone suggest Chinese recipes that scale easily, freeze well, and use only ingredients that can be easily sourced in New York?
I thought feezing rice was a bit dangerous for food poisoning.
I find most recipes other than casseroles suffer from being cooked in bulk. My solution is to batch cook.
posted by BenPens at 4:18 PM on May 19, 2013
I find most recipes other than casseroles suffer from being cooked in bulk. My solution is to batch cook.
posted by BenPens at 4:18 PM on May 19, 2013
I've made and frozen this Cantonese Beef Stew and it reheats pretty well.
Zhong zi and similar sticky-rice-with-stuff-in-it items freeze well, as do bao. Both can be steamed from frozen (and purchased in the frozen section of your local Chinese supermarket) and are best made in bulk.
posted by asphericalcow at 4:21 PM on May 19, 2013
Zhong zi and similar sticky-rice-with-stuff-in-it items freeze well, as do bao. Both can be steamed from frozen (and purchased in the frozen section of your local Chinese supermarket) and are best made in bulk.
posted by asphericalcow at 4:21 PM on May 19, 2013
Almost all dim sum type recipes. They tend to be labor intensive, but you can take a day and make a bunch of siu mai, siu bao, and spring rolls, freeze them, and steam them directly from frozen.
posted by cmoj at 4:22 PM on May 19, 2013
posted by cmoj at 4:22 PM on May 19, 2013
Response by poster: Just to keep this on track, "labor-intensive" is exactly what I am trying to avoid. This isn't just a question about time-shifting the labor; I would ideally like to reduce how much labor there is at any time.
Also, BenPens' concerns notwithstanding, please feel free to recommend recipes that involve rice. The myth about reheated rice comes from Bacillus spores reactivating in the hot water and multiplying during improper storage afterward. It can be avoided by the usual good practice of restricting time in the 40F-140F zone. In my experience over the last few months, rice freezes just fine and my father is totally okay eating it with every meal.
posted by d. z. wang at 4:31 PM on May 19, 2013
Also, BenPens' concerns notwithstanding, please feel free to recommend recipes that involve rice. The myth about reheated rice comes from Bacillus spores reactivating in the hot water and multiplying during improper storage afterward. It can be avoided by the usual good practice of restricting time in the 40F-140F zone. In my experience over the last few months, rice freezes just fine and my father is totally okay eating it with every meal.
posted by d. z. wang at 4:31 PM on May 19, 2013
Mapo Tofu ought to scale well.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 4:41 PM on May 19, 2013
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 4:41 PM on May 19, 2013
Chinese is a pretty big category, and if you're cooking for your Chinese parents I am guessing that they're accustomed to a particular style... so what is that?
The easiest thing, in my opinion, would be to buy a gigantic bag of frozen dumplings, either from a restaurant or an individual. Unless boiling/steaming is not an option.
posted by acidic at 6:00 PM on May 19, 2013
The easiest thing, in my opinion, would be to buy a gigantic bag of frozen dumplings, either from a restaurant or an individual. Unless boiling/steaming is not an option.
posted by acidic at 6:00 PM on May 19, 2013
Response by poster: To answer acidic's question, they're from Shanghai, although they're pretty open-minded about food from other parts of China. And we're looking to keep this up for at least months if not years, so a giant bag of frozen dumplings or a cartload of Trader Joe's rice boxes would be pretty monotonous, not to mention expensive and nutritionally incomplete. I really am looking for recipes I can cook from scratch.
posted by d. z. wang at 6:22 PM on May 19, 2013
posted by d. z. wang at 6:22 PM on May 19, 2013
You might look at Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World, which includes many Chinese(-inspired) dishes. They're not authentic, but Bittman has a knack for distilling the essence of a recipe down to the least possible number of ingredients and steps required to produce a reasonable version of the original. His column on risotto some years ago was an immense time-saver for me.
posted by brianogilvie at 8:07 PM on May 19, 2013
posted by brianogilvie at 8:07 PM on May 19, 2013
are they open to overseas Chinese food? this Chinese-Malaysian herbal pork tea soup scales well & freezes well. and is awfully delicious. you can make rice in a rice-cooker while you're reheating the soup for dinner. You can almost always find the prepackaged herbal tea packet in any Chinese supermarket (ask for 肉骨茶), and from there it is literally a question of dumping it and a large amount of pork, soy sauce and garlic in a saucepan and going away for 2-3 hours. Chinese-Malaysian cuisine does other splendid & easy things with pork and chicken, which all seem scalable and freezable.
posted by idlethink at 8:11 PM on May 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by idlethink at 8:11 PM on May 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Freezing works well for foods that are already kind of mushy, and I don't know of any such Chinese dishes (except congee I guess). Thai-style coconut milk based curries are easy to make since the spices come premixed in a can, and they freeze very well.
posted by miyabo at 8:53 PM on May 19, 2013
posted by miyabo at 8:53 PM on May 19, 2013
Crock pot recipes tend to be easy and freeze well. Try googling for "crockpot chinese" Personally, I would not want crockpot more than twice a week - maybe enough of one recipe to have once a week for a month then next time make a different one, also once week for a month?.
Most can easily be cooked stovetop if that timing works better for you - just throw in the ingrediants and let them cook on a back burner while you work on other meals.
At our house, we cook a big pot of rice and put in the refrigerator, instead of the freezer. Makes it quicker to heat up and less likely to dry out.
posted by metahawk at 10:02 PM on May 19, 2013
Most can easily be cooked stovetop if that timing works better for you - just throw in the ingrediants and let them cook on a back burner while you work on other meals.
At our house, we cook a big pot of rice and put in the refrigerator, instead of the freezer. Makes it quicker to heat up and less likely to dry out.
posted by metahawk at 10:02 PM on May 19, 2013
My mom does this for my dad when she goes traveling, and honestly, I think she freezes any of the dishes she'd normally cook. I agree with miyabo that softer foods work better, but as long as your parent's expectations are more about getting fed, and less about extreme tastiness, almost any dish will be okay.
That said, in our house, creamed corn and chicken is a popular fallback. Chicken curry is a good option too.
For other easy meals that suit Chinese tastes, you can make the sauce for dan dan mian ahead of time. Then when it comes time to eat, cook noodles in the rice cooker and serve with the sauce. Also, if you get a steamer tray for your rice cooker, you can put bok choy and Chinese sausages in the tray and have a complete meal from that. This is not really about freezing though, more about convenience foods.
posted by tinymegalo at 10:14 PM on May 19, 2013
That said, in our house, creamed corn and chicken is a popular fallback. Chicken curry is a good option too.
For other easy meals that suit Chinese tastes, you can make the sauce for dan dan mian ahead of time. Then when it comes time to eat, cook noodles in the rice cooker and serve with the sauce. Also, if you get a steamer tray for your rice cooker, you can put bok choy and Chinese sausages in the tray and have a complete meal from that. This is not really about freezing though, more about convenience foods.
posted by tinymegalo at 10:14 PM on May 19, 2013
I'm not sure how familiar you are with chinese cooking but there are plenty of dishes that can be made ahead and reheated. Many of these dishes are fairly simple and fall under the category of "homestyle" chinese cooking and not what you would necessarily get at a chinese restaurant.
One example is: soy braised meat w/ veggies & eggs. There isn't really a specific recipe for this but it is essentially: chicken drumsticks or cheap cut of pork (usually pork shoulder or pork belly with the rind attached), dried shitaki mushrooms, daikon radish & carrot chunks, pressed tofu/soaked tofu skins, all put in a pot with soy, sugar (usually "rock" or unrefined sugar), and water to braise until the meat is falling-apart tender. I remember my folks using five spice powder, star anise, and fresh ginger chunks to add flavor to the braising liquid. You can also put in some shelled hard boiled eggs to make braised eggs. This keeps easily and can be frozen for extended periods.
Another easy to make dish that can keep well for long periods is celery stir fried with sliced pressed tofu along the lines of this salad recipe (but put together as a stir-fry and not a salad).
One more suggestion is to make a large quantity of a really basic brothy tofu soup (e.g. chicken broth + medium sized chunks of firm tofu) that is easily stored and can be reheated later and to which pre-washed baby spinach can be added for a easy tofu-spinach soup. (This was a staple in my family when I was growing up.)
posted by scalespace at 10:18 PM on May 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
One example is: soy braised meat w/ veggies & eggs. There isn't really a specific recipe for this but it is essentially: chicken drumsticks or cheap cut of pork (usually pork shoulder or pork belly with the rind attached), dried shitaki mushrooms, daikon radish & carrot chunks, pressed tofu/soaked tofu skins, all put in a pot with soy, sugar (usually "rock" or unrefined sugar), and water to braise until the meat is falling-apart tender. I remember my folks using five spice powder, star anise, and fresh ginger chunks to add flavor to the braising liquid. You can also put in some shelled hard boiled eggs to make braised eggs. This keeps easily and can be frozen for extended periods.
Another easy to make dish that can keep well for long periods is celery stir fried with sliced pressed tofu along the lines of this salad recipe (but put together as a stir-fry and not a salad).
One more suggestion is to make a large quantity of a really basic brothy tofu soup (e.g. chicken broth + medium sized chunks of firm tofu) that is easily stored and can be reheated later and to which pre-washed baby spinach can be added for a easy tofu-spinach soup. (This was a staple in my family when I was growing up.)
posted by scalespace at 10:18 PM on May 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
soup would be good, or anything that you braise / cook for a long time. Any sort of steamed greens, I find freezes OK. Stir-fries mostly won't freeze very well - might still be delicious but it won't be the same texture for most vegetables. You might be able to get away with it with greens, though - snow pea shoots or spinach. Fried rice is another option.
posted by Lady Li at 12:34 AM on May 20, 2013
posted by Lady Li at 12:34 AM on May 20, 2013
I'm half Chinese, and used to freeze Asian meals all the time. My favourites:
Any combination of the below, on rice, in a tupperware. These ALL scale wonderfully, I used to make up to 25 serves at a time. Make sure you combine a protein and a veg where one of them have liquid/juices to soak into the rice a bit. Makes for a nicer eating experience, IMO. Also, all the below can be made in an hour or less, start to finish.
Steamed Bok Choy with sesame oil and light soy sauce drizzle
Honey Soy Chicken Wings
(Honey + Soy sauce to taste, chilli flakes if you like. Marinate chicken wings for 2-24 hours. Bake for 45 minutes)
Salty chicken wings
("Chicken salt", or all purpose seasoning. Toss chicken wings in lots of it. Bake for 45 mins)
Scallops stirfried in Sambal paste (Yeo's brand, from the jar), garlic and spring onions
Teriyaki beef
Steamed/roast broccoli
Stirfried zucchini (or roasted, or steamed)
Minced pork fried with diced carrots, peas, in soy sauce
Extra credit:
Fried rice also freezes quite nicely, for a good one dish meal.
posted by shazzam! at 5:56 AM on May 20, 2013
Any combination of the below, on rice, in a tupperware. These ALL scale wonderfully, I used to make up to 25 serves at a time. Make sure you combine a protein and a veg where one of them have liquid/juices to soak into the rice a bit. Makes for a nicer eating experience, IMO. Also, all the below can be made in an hour or less, start to finish.
Steamed Bok Choy with sesame oil and light soy sauce drizzle
Honey Soy Chicken Wings
(Honey + Soy sauce to taste, chilli flakes if you like. Marinate chicken wings for 2-24 hours. Bake for 45 minutes)
Salty chicken wings
("Chicken salt", or all purpose seasoning. Toss chicken wings in lots of it. Bake for 45 mins)
Scallops stirfried in Sambal paste (Yeo's brand, from the jar), garlic and spring onions
Teriyaki beef
Steamed/roast broccoli
Stirfried zucchini (or roasted, or steamed)
Minced pork fried with diced carrots, peas, in soy sauce
Extra credit:
Fried rice also freezes quite nicely, for a good one dish meal.
posted by shazzam! at 5:56 AM on May 20, 2013
not completely on topic, but I did the cooking in bulk for relatives thing not so long ago. And it was good, in many ways. It was also no good. I mean, they ate the food, but they also complained a lot, and I changed the deal to cooking extra portions every day at home, and bringing food more frequently. Not every day, but at least every week. They liked the variation, they said, but I suspect they liked the frequent visits most, because the quality of the food dwindled considerably, and went far off their professed limits. (As in asking for home-made curry and getting chicken breasts and stir-fry).
I could go on and on about this, but today, years after, my conclusion is: go get them the goddam meals. Get it from takeout and re-wrap it, or whatever. They want you, not the food.
Maybe you are in a different state, and that's not possible. But still think of the whole endeavor in those terms. Even the pickiest can eat whatever, if they are certain love is involved.
posted by mumimor at 1:35 PM on May 20, 2013
I could go on and on about this, but today, years after, my conclusion is: go get them the goddam meals. Get it from takeout and re-wrap it, or whatever. They want you, not the food.
Maybe you are in a different state, and that's not possible. But still think of the whole endeavor in those terms. Even the pickiest can eat whatever, if they are certain love is involved.
posted by mumimor at 1:35 PM on May 20, 2013
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posted by Think_Long at 4:12 PM on May 19, 2013