Full question
Hi! My son loves Nigella’s Chicken Teriyaki recipe. He’s just started university and wants me to supply him a few meals for his freezer. Would it be best to freeze the dish after cooking or before? Thanks!
Our answer
Nigella's Chicken Teriyaki (from KITCHEN) is an easy stir-fry dish that can be made very quickly. It is best when freshly made, but if you need to freeze it then our preference would be to freeze the dish after cooking. This is mainly as you would need to let the chicken defrost overnight in the fridge and this would mean that it sits in the marinade for several hours. The marinade contains quite a lot of soy sauce and although this can have a tenderising effect if used in a quick marinade, it can also make the chicken tough and dry if the chicken marinates for too long.
Cool the cooked Chicken Teriyaki as quickly as possible and refrigerate within 2 hours of making. Once fully chilled, freeze in airtight containers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in a microwave or in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir from time to time when reheating and add a splash of water if necessary. Make sure the chicken is piping hot all of the way through before serving. Unfortunately we can't recommend freezing, defrosting and reheating the rice as rice is considered to be a high risk ingredient for reheating and needs to be handled very carefully. But you can now buy pouches of ready to heat sushi rice in many large supermarkets, so this would be an ideal accompaniment to the dish.
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