How to Reheat and Revive Chinese Food Leftovers

Reheating leftover Chinese food can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to preserving the original texture and flavor. However, with some simple techniques and basic knowledge, you can revive even the most soggy or greasy dishes. In this article, we'll explore various methods for reheating and rehydrating different types of Chinese food leftovers.

One common method is to use a combination of sauce and water to revive leftover meat dishes. For example, if you have leftover roast pork with sauce, simply toss it in with some water and mix everything together until the sauce has thickened slightly. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes. You can also add some salt or soy sauce to taste. Another method is to use instant noodles as a base for your leftover dish. Simply pour the noodle soup over the leftover meat or vegetables, and you'll have a tasty and filling meal.

Deep-fried foods are another common leftover that can be revived with a little creativity. While it's true that deep-fried foods tend to become soggy when reheated, there are ways to restore their crispy texture. One method is to add them to a hot and savory soup, such as a wonton soup or a hot and sour broth. The heat from the soup will help to crisp up the exterior of the fried food, while the flavors will meld together with the other ingredients.

Bowls buns and dumplings are another popular Chinese dish that can be reheated using various methods. When cooking bowls buns and dumplings fresh, it's common to cook them all the way through before letting them cool down. To reheat them, simply steam or pan-fry them until they're hot and steaming. You can also freeze them for later use, as this will help preserve their texture and flavor.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when reheating leftover Chinese food is the importance of timing. Different foods require different amounts of time to reheat, depending on their size and composition. For example, a small serving of frozen noodles may only need to be steamed for 5-7 minutes, while a larger serving of meat or vegetables may require 10-15 minutes.

In addition to reheating techniques, there are also various seasonings and sauces that can help revive the flavor of leftover Chinese food. Soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil are all common ingredients used in Chinese cooking, and they can add depth and complexity to even the most reheated dishes. You can also experiment with different spices and herbs to create unique flavor profiles.

Finally, we must address the question of how to store and reheat leftover bowls buns and dumplings properly. When cooking these dishes fresh, it's common to let them cool down completely before portioning them out into individual servings. To freeze them, simply wrap each serving individually in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and then place them in airtight bags or containers. Reheating frozen bowls buns and dumplings requires slightly more effort than reheating other types of leftovers, but the end result is well worth it.

To reheat frozen bowls buns and dumplings, simply steam or pan-fry them until they're hot and steaming. The exact cooking time will depend on the size of your serving, but generally speaking, you'll want to aim for 10-15 minutes of steaming time per serving. It's also worth noting that some supermarkets carry a wide selection of frozen bowls buns and dumplings, which can be reheated using various methods, including steaming or pan-frying.

In conclusion, reheating leftover Chinese food requires creativity, flexibility, and a willingness to experiment with different techniques and ingredients. By understanding the importance of timing, using the right seasonings and sauces, and experimenting with different reheating methods, you can revive even the most soggy or greasy dishes and enjoy delicious meals that are both satisfying and nutritious.

Some common Chinese cooking questions on how to store and reheat leftovers include:

* How do I store leftover meat dishes?

* Can I freeze bowls buns and dumplings?

* How do I reheat frozen noodles or rice?

* What is the best way to reheat sticky rice or mi?

* How long should I steam frozen bowls buns and dumplings?

These questions and more can be answered in our non-recipe section, where we'll explore some general tips and techniques for reheating and reviving Chinese food leftovers.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ennow what we prepare today it's a meal completely mied from leftovers doesn't have to be a sad Affair growing up we often have leftovers on our dinner table because the way of eating in a Chinese meal is usually one dish per person and reheating or repurposing some leftovers can be a great timesaver especially on a BC week night meal but enjoying leftovers doesn't just stop at your week night dinner table for example if you look at some classic dishes from Luna new year you will see the essence of it is using leftover ingredients and turning it into something equally tasty for example uh this hamun sticky rice balls in a outer Umami soup from costal guong oring the Supreme pot that you can see from Shandong so we'll show you some general basic ideas on on how to reheat and repurpose Chinese food but even if you're feeling a little less ambitious we still hope we can give you some basic ideas on how to reheat your Chinese dishes so for rice and Fri rice reheating them is super simple just put it in a shallow bowl for even heat distribution gently spread it out a bit sprinkle some water on it cover with a plate and toss in the mic wave nuke on medium high for 3 minutes is for a plate like this and then they'll be as good as fresh then next we have noodles soup noodles just straight up doesn't keep so we are mainly talking about fried noodles and mixed noodles here similar to Rice you can always nuke your noodles but downside is that it will get overly dry and clumpy so best way to reheat frying noodles thees will be steaming let the the steam provide that much needed moisture to offset the heart and dry texture from starch retrogradation and bring back the springiness so just evenly L your noodles on a shallow plate steam over boiling water on high for 6 minutes is and then you're done after we sort the starches next we have saly sures which it's a very big category so we'll have two dishes to show you how to deal with them the first one is mot tofu dishes like mot tofu has a very thick sauce and it conal after sitting in the fridge if you reheat it directly whether in microwave or over stove top the sauce will thicken even more as the water evaporates and you'll often end up with a gloop so a better way to do this would be putting it into a walk add a little bit of water turn the heat to medium high and wait till the sauce slowly loosen up then gently fold the water in when it starts to Bubble you can add more water to adjust the consistency to your liking bring everything to a boil then it's done besides M po tofu sweet and sour pork and dishes alike are another common type of stir fries with a thick slurry that's difficult to reheat and for a combo of deep fried stuff with a thick sauce the best way to reheat would be giving a quick fry in a walk so first long y get your walk piping hot sh off the heat adding the oil about half tablespoon give it a swirl to get a nice non-stick surface heat on medium high toss the pork in with the sauce swirl in some water I like to start with a couple tablespoon mix everything together and bring to a boil give it a taste see if it needs some salt if the taste is good shut off the heat and take it out so this is definitely not crispy but it's still tasty you can enjoy it as the this or even better don't be afraid to turn it into something else for a dish like this we always like to pour it over some crunchy instant noodles and turn it into a lazy mint Too Faced yellow style towan so Rose Meat it's another common dish you can get from Chinese restaurants it's great when is fresh from the oven but it's also a very good candidate for making a new dish when we're heating so again don't be afraid to turn your leftover into something else my family loves to use roast meat in stir fries and this kind of roast meat stir Fred with vegetables it's actually a staple in County's Cuisine for example like this classic or this or even this tatan T classic should Choy for up SE mon May so for example we have some Rose Goose here we usually like to add some hearty vegetables to it so here we are using half a hat of broccoli today give the vet a quick blanch take it out and strain once it turns dark green then to a walk long yell toss in the vegetable add in salt sugar a touch of soy sauce and maybe some MSG why not give it a quick mix then toss in the goose and all its juices and fry it for about a minute till it warms up then heat off put it on a plate a stir Fred goose with broccoli it's done moving on we have deep fry stuff leftover deep friy stuff it's always soggy but crispy turn soggy it's a great texture and you can totally turn your leftover deep fry stuff into a whole new Dash a common practice in Chinese cooking is actively putting deep fried stuff in soupy things for example like the classic sh or suro t now and that's what we usually do at home too here we get some salt and pepper ribs it's soggy and greasy but let's turn it into a quick fluffy soup first here a small handful of dry shrimps that's so in hot water for half an hour toss it all in with uh two cups of water bring it to a boil toss in some Nappa cabbage cook for a minute and then here we have some reconstituted glass noodles this was just 25 G of thin glass noodles soaked in cool water for about half an hour and then add that into the soup cook for another minute then finally in with the ribs bring it all to a boil and then add in the seasoning sprinkle on some scallion or cilantro Cs and then your quick fluffy soup it's done you can even play with the seasoning and turn it into a hot and sour soup because why not finally we can talk about bowels buns and deums which we got so many questions on how to store and reheat them so general rule of thumb when you are making your theme Thum you should uh cook them all the way through like steam your suai haal or bous all the way till they're done and then let it cool down portion it out into airtight bags and then you can freeze them Frozen diom keeps them reheats so well that supermarkets here have a massive selection of Frozen deom that you can just grab Steam and eat so for example to reheat here we have some Onan flaky broken Bell from the video a few weeks back no need to thaw just put in a steamer or on a plate over a steaming r let us steam over boiling water on high for 12 minutes then the bows will be as good as fresh notice that the time to steam really depends on the size of your themom and Bows but generally speaking when something is frozen you will at least need to steam it on high for 10 minutes or more if you are reheating sticky rice stuff like mchi or J it will even take longer like 15 minutes or more for it to regain its chilliness if you're just reheating something that's not frozen The Benchmark time for reference can be shortened to 5 minutes and if you are reheating the Deep friy stuff or bait good just toss them in the oven like you would reheating bread and pastries so right this are some general ideas on how to reheat certain types of Chinese food again the time it takes really depends on how much food that you are working with so please use your own judgment to see if your food is done reheating or not and finally check out the non recipes in the description box a big thank you for everyone that's supporting us on patreon and of course subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos keepnow what we prepare today it's a meal completely mied from leftovers doesn't have to be a sad Affair growing up we often have leftovers on our dinner table because the way of eating in a Chinese meal is usually one dish per person and reheating or repurposing some leftovers can be a great timesaver especially on a BC week night meal but enjoying leftovers doesn't just stop at your week night dinner table for example if you look at some classic dishes from Luna new year you will see the essence of it is using leftover ingredients and turning it into something equally tasty for example uh this hamun sticky rice balls in a outer Umami soup from costal guong oring the Supreme pot that you can see from Shandong so we'll show you some general basic ideas on on how to reheat and repurpose Chinese food but even if you're feeling a little less ambitious we still hope we can give you some basic ideas on how to reheat your Chinese dishes so for rice and Fri rice reheating them is super simple just put it in a shallow bowl for even heat distribution gently spread it out a bit sprinkle some water on it cover with a plate and toss in the mic wave nuke on medium high for 3 minutes is for a plate like this and then they'll be as good as fresh then next we have noodles soup noodles just straight up doesn't keep so we are mainly talking about fried noodles and mixed noodles here similar to Rice you can always nuke your noodles but downside is that it will get overly dry and clumpy so best way to reheat frying noodles thees will be steaming let the the steam provide that much needed moisture to offset the heart and dry texture from starch retrogradation and bring back the springiness so just evenly L your noodles on a shallow plate steam over boiling water on high for 6 minutes is and then you're done after we sort the starches next we have saly sures which it's a very big category so we'll have two dishes to show you how to deal with them the first one is mot tofu dishes like mot tofu has a very thick sauce and it conal after sitting in the fridge if you reheat it directly whether in microwave or over stove top the sauce will thicken even more as the water evaporates and you'll often end up with a gloop so a better way to do this would be putting it into a walk add a little bit of water turn the heat to medium high and wait till the sauce slowly loosen up then gently fold the water in when it starts to Bubble you can add more water to adjust the consistency to your liking bring everything to a boil then it's done besides M po tofu sweet and sour pork and dishes alike are another common type of stir fries with a thick slurry that's difficult to reheat and for a combo of deep fried stuff with a thick sauce the best way to reheat would be giving a quick fry in a walk so first long y get your walk piping hot sh off the heat adding the oil about half tablespoon give it a swirl to get a nice non-stick surface heat on medium high toss the pork in with the sauce swirl in some water I like to start with a couple tablespoon mix everything together and bring to a boil give it a taste see if it needs some salt if the taste is good shut off the heat and take it out so this is definitely not crispy but it's still tasty you can enjoy it as the this or even better don't be afraid to turn it into something else for a dish like this we always like to pour it over some crunchy instant noodles and turn it into a lazy mint Too Faced yellow style towan so Rose Meat it's another common dish you can get from Chinese restaurants it's great when is fresh from the oven but it's also a very good candidate for making a new dish when we're heating so again don't be afraid to turn your leftover into something else my family loves to use roast meat in stir fries and this kind of roast meat stir Fred with vegetables it's actually a staple in County's Cuisine for example like this classic or this or even this tatan T classic should Choy for up SE mon May so for example we have some Rose Goose here we usually like to add some hearty vegetables to it so here we are using half a hat of broccoli today give the vet a quick blanch take it out and strain once it turns dark green then to a walk long yell toss in the vegetable add in salt sugar a touch of soy sauce and maybe some MSG why not give it a quick mix then toss in the goose and all its juices and fry it for about a minute till it warms up then heat off put it on a plate a stir Fred goose with broccoli it's done moving on we have deep fry stuff leftover deep friy stuff it's always soggy but crispy turn soggy it's a great texture and you can totally turn your leftover deep fry stuff into a whole new Dash a common practice in Chinese cooking is actively putting deep fried stuff in soupy things for example like the classic sh or suro t now and that's what we usually do at home too here we get some salt and pepper ribs it's soggy and greasy but let's turn it into a quick fluffy soup first here a small handful of dry shrimps that's so in hot water for half an hour toss it all in with uh two cups of water bring it to a boil toss in some Nappa cabbage cook for a minute and then here we have some reconstituted glass noodles this was just 25 G of thin glass noodles soaked in cool water for about half an hour and then add that into the soup cook for another minute then finally in with the ribs bring it all to a boil and then add in the seasoning sprinkle on some scallion or cilantro Cs and then your quick fluffy soup it's done you can even play with the seasoning and turn it into a hot and sour soup because why not finally we can talk about bowels buns and deums which we got so many questions on how to store and reheat them so general rule of thumb when you are making your theme Thum you should uh cook them all the way through like steam your suai haal or bous all the way till they're done and then let it cool down portion it out into airtight bags and then you can freeze them Frozen diom keeps them reheats so well that supermarkets here have a massive selection of Frozen deom that you can just grab Steam and eat so for example to reheat here we have some Onan flaky broken Bell from the video a few weeks back no need to thaw just put in a steamer or on a plate over a steaming r let us steam over boiling water on high for 12 minutes then the bows will be as good as fresh notice that the time to steam really depends on the size of your themom and Bows but generally speaking when something is frozen you will at least need to steam it on high for 10 minutes or more if you are reheating sticky rice stuff like mchi or J it will even take longer like 15 minutes or more for it to regain its chilliness if you're just reheating something that's not frozen The Benchmark time for reference can be shortened to 5 minutes and if you are reheating the Deep friy stuff or bait good just toss them in the oven like you would reheating bread and pastries so right this are some general ideas on how to reheat certain types of Chinese food again the time it takes really depends on how much food that you are working with so please use your own judgment to see if your food is done reheating or not and finally check out the non recipes in the description box a big thank you for everyone that's supporting us on patreon and of course subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos keep\n"