freezing a thai curry

[peelpaul]

Hi folks just made a red thai curry and made far too much,is it ok to freeze or will the coconut milk spoil the curry?And can I also freeze the brown rice?

[PeteC]

We've frozen Massaman curry many times and it has coconut milk in it. It was fine, but we didn't leave it in there for months, just a fortnight or so. The rice I think wouldn't be too good when thawed again. Just give it to the soi dogs and cook more when needed. Pete

[Takiap]

Yes, as Pete has said, the curry can be frozen. I often make curry (Thai and Indian) and freeze a few servings in individual containers for later use. I wouldn't bother with the rice though, although I'm sure you could.

[Coldmike]

Rice is good for about a week in the fridge. Add a few drops of water
and microwave... Good as freshly cooked.

[pharvey]

We freeze rice on a regular basis - no problem whatsoever. In fact far better using pre-frozen rice to make fried rice.... absolutely no idea why though!

Agree with previous posts regarding freezing curry.

[Pleng]

I don't think it's the fact that the rice is pre-frozen which makes it better that fresh rice. I think it's the fact that it's been cooked and had a change to cool down. I always tended (when I was living in England - dont cook here!) to make enough rice for 2 dishes when I cooked, leave half the rice in the fridge, and make a fried rice dish the next day.

Not sure I would be comfortable with reheating rice that's been refrigerated for a week, to be honest. And I just can't agree that reheated rice is as good as freshly cooked!

[kendo]

I would be very care full with rice it's a high risk food, for food poisoning the safest way to store cooked rice is let it cool and freeze strait away.

If you are going to store in a fridge than it should be put in there within 20 minutes of cooling and the fridge temp should be below 5c, i personally would only use this the next day for fried rice and i would make sure it got plenty of heat through it to kill any bacteria.

A very common comment is "i had a dodgy curry last night that's given me a upset stomach" " urgh no you had dodgy rice that was at an ambient temperature for to long"

One last thing i think frozen rice will make better fried rice because it will have a lower moisture content.

Kendo.

[usual suspect]

All our Masamans are frozen after they have cooled in the big wok.
Sometimes I go to the day market & buy the 'raw' green curry that they sell out of those zinc bowls..I knot it all up in about 7 plaggy bags & take back to the UK..once there transfer the curry-paste into those large yogurt cartons, put the lid on & into the freezer...for a curry-night with the mates..thaw, add onions,meat, coconut milk, mushrooms etc..wickedly (eye-wateringly) good :-))

[deepee]

peelpaul,
agree with the above advice and would like to suggest that you do not reheat any coconut milk/cream based curry in a microwave, no matter how much stirring thru you give it. The fats in the coconut heat at a different rate than the rest of the mix and seperate out. The result is you will always get an oilier tasting curry. The secret with all good curries is to do things slow , slow gentle heating on a stove will give you a better curry.

[PeteC]

peelpaul,
agree with the above advice and would like to suggest that you do not reheat any coconut milk/cream based curry in a microwave, no matter how much stirring thru you give it. The fats in the coconut heat at a different rate than the rest of the mix and seperate out. The result is you will always get an oilier tasting curry. The secret with all good curries is to do things slow , slow gentle heating on a stove will give you a better curry.

OW , that is a good tip. I didn't know that and I don't think the wife does either. Many times we'll bring a curry home from a restaurant and I always wondered why the oil in it appears not to be mixed well after heating it up. Thanks Deepee Pete

[Takiap]

The secret with all good curries is to do things slow , slow gentle heating on a stove will give you a better curry.

Try telling that to the Thais when they make Thai curry. The average bowl of green curry, red curry, and etc takes them about 5 to 10 minutes to make. Very few Thai dishes are cooked slowly, if any, but yes, you are right, most curries should be cooked slowly.

[margaretcarnes]

The secret with all good curries is to do things slow , slow gentle heating on a stove will give you a better curry.

Try telling that to the Thais when they make Thai curry. The average bowl of green curry, red curry, and etc takes them about 5 to 10 minutes to make. Very few Thai dishes are cooked slowly, if any, but yes, you are right, most curries should be cooked slowly.

When they are using a paste - red - green - masaman etc - there isn't a need to cook the curry slowly. The paste made beforehand will have already done the hard work just by sitting and blending together. With Indian curries that bit is often achieved by dry frying the spices together first.
I think they often use pre cooked meat as well, or at least meat cut very thinly to cook quickly. Agreed Indian curries can benefit from slow cooking, and can be better eaten the next day. But coconut milk can suffer from being over cooked IMO.
All that said - curry making must be one of the few things that Thais do quickly!

[deepee]

quote ;The average bowl of green curry, red curry, and etc takes them about 5 to 10 minutes to make.

I'm lucky to have one hell of a good cook with Mrs deepee.When in the mood she will make a curry paste up from scratch , many hours in that I might add.
Even if she does one up from a bought paste we still don't get to see it till the next day.She's told me the tricks of buying a good paste is to look for one that is very fine so you can hardly see any of the ingredients in it.Better flavour release. Seek out the older sellers in any markets as they will be old school and be less likely to be cutting corners.Look for a paste that is not discolouring too much at the edges too.

Ever woken up and thought that you may have overdone the Thai curry and beers the night before as your have had some pretty way out dreams during the night? One of the main ingredients of Thai curries is galangal and is known to be an hallucinongen btw.

[Takiap]

MC.......yes, curry making is one of the few things Thais do quickly, but not the only thing.......minivan taxis spring to mind.


Deepee, you are absolutely correct, but an old school Thai will make up their own paste and do so without the help of an electrical appliance. Also, you'll find the pastes found in markets is usually, if not always made in a way that requires the least amount of work. For example, market sellers will use turmeric powder rather than fresh turmeric. They'll also leave out an ingredient or two, and have done so for so long, that the average person is none the wiser. With all that said, if you make a curry from the bought paste, it can be made in a matter of minutes. If you make your own paste, as I sometimes do, it takes bloody hours of work with the mortar and pestle, but then again, you end up with enough paste to make several meals.

Experimenting with a few extra ingredients can also be great fun.