Bảo quản và Chuẩn bị
Although the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) suggests that frozen food can be kept almost indefinitely on the basis of food safety, it does not mean that food should be kept that long, as flavor and quality of the product almost invariably decreases as time goes on.
Proper storage of vietnamese food
In the US, we often go to the market to cook for an entire week, saving time for those who take care of the home. But how can we store Vietnamese food in the most scientific and safe way?
To prevent out-of-control hazards when freezing, one should know the right freezer storage principles right from the start. Remember that when you store most of your food, you should keep these five principles in mind:
- Prevent freezer burn.
- Prevent loss of food moisture.
- Prevent cross contamination between products.
- Prevent food poisoning when freezing.
- Proper organization in the freezer.
The key to accomplishing these goals lies in how you pack your food and how you store it. Here are the golden rules for implementing the above principle:
Leave as little air in the packaging as possible such as all the air from the freezer bags before you seal them. You should use freezer-safe containers appropriate to the amount of food to be frozen.
Pack or bag them then label them or simply put a freeze date on them, even if you think you'll be using these foods within a week or two.
Place these new items in the coldest part of your freezer if possible, until they are completely frozen.
Try to use your frozen foods within two to three months.
The question is, if I buy products from Doan Cha Oc, how should I store them and how long should I use them?
Doan Cha Oc currently has 13 products, the storage method of each type will also be slightly different.
- Steamed Pork sausages (Cha Oc, Cha Hue, Cha Lua, Cha Bi): These types of sausages are wrapped and steamed in banana leaves then wrapped in food-safe plastic wrap, so the freezing time of these types of sausages can be up to 3-4 months.
- Raw Pork sausage: Because this is raw meat, the best by time of only 7-14 days is the most suitable to ensure product quality.
- Grilled Meat skewers, Grilled Pork Sausages, Beef in Betel Leaf, Sugarcane Shrimp, Fried Pork Sausage and Fried Fish Sticks: These products have been thoroughly cooked and vacuum sealed, the freezing time is up to 1-2 months for best quality.
- Dried shrimp: the product has been dried and vacuumed sealed. When opened, it is best to use it within 2-3 months. After opening, you can put dried shrimp in a ziploc bag and store it in the fridge.
Note: If you store in the refrigerator, all of the above products will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week. Please note that the raw pork sausage is to be kept frozen until ready to use.
How to Prepare Your Vietnamese Meal
To prepare a Vietnamese meal for residents in the United States presents small challenges. Dishes like Vietnamese braised meat, squash soup, cabbage soup, or braised fish are relatively simple and easy to make. However, if your parents want to eat grilled pork sausage, fried sugarcane shrimp, beef in betel leaves, or rice noodle rolls, what should you do? Ingredients? Recipes? Oh, it's so difficult. But when it comes to Doan Cha Oc, the difficult things are made easy, the easier things are even easier.
Here, Doan Cha Oc will guide you to prepare a simple meal of Grilled Nem (Grilled Pork sausage), Fried sugarcane shrimp, and Beef in betel leaves to treat your family for a weekend dinner.
- The first step: order Doan's Grilled Nem, Sugarcane Shrimp, Beef in betel leaves via website doanchaoc.com and within 24 hours, the goods will be delivered to your home.
- Step 2: Go to the local market and buy dried vermicelli noodles and some herbs such as: perilla, lettuce, cucumber, garlic, chili, scallions....
Once we have all the ingredients, let's start preparing:
- Take the products of Grilled Nem, Sugarcane Shrimp, Beef in betel leaves, completely defrost them, and microwave for 30-45 seconds per portion. If you prefer to bake, grill, or airfry them, just be mindful of the time and temperature as it could easily dry out the product, since they are already completely cooked. Just like a fine steak, overcooking can cause a loss of quality for these products.
- Pick the vegetables and herbs and soak them in water with a pinch of salt.
- Boil water and soak noodles for 3-10 minutes depending on the type of noodles, then drain in a colander. If it’s the Banh Hoi type of noodles, you can soak it in some coconut water and 1 tablespoon of oil for 1 minute to enhance the flavor.
- Finely chop the scallions and put in a bowl, add 1-2 tablespoons of cooking oil, a pinch of salt, then put in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- How to make sweet and sour fish sauce .
Recipe of Sweet and Sour Juice for 4 people:
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2-3 chili peppers (depending on whether you want to eat more or less spicy)
- 3 tablespoons of sugar
- 2 slices of lemon
- 2 tablespoons boiling water
- 4 tablespoons fish sauce
After completing the arrangement of the noodles and grilled pork sausage, sugarcane shrimp, and beef in betel leaves on a plate, add fried onions and green onion oil on top, and add crushed roasted peanuts on top. Arrange accompanying vegetables and fish sauce on the table.
And so just within 1 hour of preparation, you’ve got a hearty weekend dinner with the family for an authentic Vietnamese taste.
Wishing you success!