Easy Ways to Prepare Foods to Stay Fresh and Durable

BUYING and preparing foods whether wet or dry for three days to one-month period of time is a one of the tricks that can decrease the risk of being infected by COVID-19 in society.

Even though a number of cities in Indonesia has loosen the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB), the risk of being infected by COVID-19 is still high. There is not yet indication that assure us that the cases of new infections will decrease soon. What happen is the opposite instead. Therefore, restrict our activities outside of the house and crowded places, including decrease the frequency of buying foods outside is a proper way to prevent virus infection in community. The government ensure that in this pandemic, availability and access to foods remains safe. Traditional market and modern, also vegetable sellers remain operating. In fact, some sellers utilize technology either e-commerce or social media to sell vegetables and fruits by online.

Food Preparation for foods to stay durable

Vegetables and fruits consumption become important in current situation to keep our body health. The research shows that vegetables and fruits contain flavonoid compounds which can increase immune system either for healthy people or people with certain illness.

With strong immune system, the risk of being infected by COVID-19 can be minimized. In normal condition, people usually buy fresh foods, especially vegetables, on the same day that they will cook them. This is to keep the freshness and nutritional value of the foods. As a support to social restriction and social distancing, people should buy vegetables and fruits in a period of time, for example once a week. Is the freshness of the foods can last up to a week? The answer is depending on the type of foods and the storage conditions.

The way to keep the foods, whether raw, half-cooked, or cooked in a refrigerator to be used in three to one-month period of time is called food preparation or food prep. By applying food prep, foods shopping can be measured and save time when we want to cook because preparation is only done in the beginning of period. In this pandemic, food prep can be one of the solutions to decrease the frequency of going out if it is not possible to buy vegetables and fruits by online. The application of food prep start with buying foods worth a period of time. The fresh foods that will be stored raw are cleaned first. Then, discard the inedible part and cut it into pieces.

Next, every kind of foods is placed inside a closed container, then stored inside the refrigerator. If the foods are cleaned by washing, make sure to dry it first before storing them. Storage for half-cooked foods or cooked foods usually applied to protein materials (side dishes). Cooked foods can be stored in a one-meal portion and just warm it up when it’s time to be served. Meanwhile, vegetables usually kept in raw form.