How to Elongate Shelf Life of Food 如何延长食物的保质期

Curbing food waste properly starts from the small details in everyday life.

While ordering food in restaurants in smarter ways and packing up leftovers are suggested by nationwide campaigns， for those who mostly cook their meals at home， there are also ways to make the most use of dried goods and fresh produce.

防止食物浪费从日常生活的细节开始。

在餐馆适当点餐、把没有吃完的食物打包，这样的行为值得大力推广。对于那些经常在家做饭的人 ， 也有方法让干制食品和生鲜农产品得到充分的使用。

Ways to store dried goods

干制食品的储藏法

When a new bag of rice， flour， oat or dried mushroom is opened， storing them to elongate shelf life can be a challenging task， especially in the humid climate in southern parts of China.

There are many food containers designed for storing dried foods to separate the air and moisture. In southern parts of China， if you are constantly opening containers to scoop out the amount to be used in cooking， it greatly reduces the storage time—there could be mould and small bugs that render the whole batch unusable.

Take rice as an example， the best way to avoid waste is to divide a large bag of rice， usually 5 or 10 kilos， into smaller portions of 500 grams to 1 kilo each， depending on how much is consumed weekly， and only open the second portion after the first one is finished. Vacuum sealing works best with dried foods.

當一袋新的大米、面粉、燕麦或干香菇被打开后，如何储藏它们以延长保质期是一项具有挑战性的任务，尤其是在中国南方潮湿的气候条件下。

市面上有许多用来储存干燥的食物的容器，它们可以隔绝空气和水分。在中国的南方地区，如果你经常打开容器取适量食物烹饪，就会大大缩短食物的保质期——食物可能会产生霉菌和生小虫，导致整袋食物都无法食用。

以大米为例，避免浪费最好的办法是将大袋的大米进行分装，通常把 5 或 10 千克的大米分成 500 克到 1 千克的小份，这需要每个家庭根据一周食用的量来分装。在吃完第一份大米后，再打开第二份。真空密封最适合干制食品的储藏。

Ways to store fresh produce

生鲜农产品的保存方法

Fresh produce like leafy vegetables， soy products  and  mushrooms  are  best purchased daily according to the recipe， but sometimes theres a need to store greens for longer time.

For example， kale is much cheaper when buying in bulk via online vendors， but storing it can be tricky. Here are two tips.Thoroughly wash a larger batch and dry completely with a salad spinner so that all the water  is  removed  to  significantly elongate the freshness （sometimes up to a week， minus the need to wash every time）， or make smaller portions and put them in the freezer. There are some vegetables that should be blanched before freezing， like beans， broccoli and asparagus.

Brown bags with holes punched in them can be used to store fresh vegetables and extend shelf life， but that doesnt prevent the smell from circulating  in the fridge . Vegetables such as tomatoes， eggplant， and green beans can be vacuum sealed， too.

像绿叶蔬菜、豆制品和蘑菇这样的新鲜农产品，最好根据食谱每天购买，但我们也有需要将蔬菜存放更长时间的情况。

比如，从网上批量购买甘蓝要便宜得多，但储存甘蓝就比较麻烦。这里介绍两个小窍门：把它们洗干净，然后放在蔬菜脱水器中彻底把水去掉，这样可以长时间地保持甘蓝的新鲜度（有时可以达到一个星期，同时每次烹饪之前不用洗）;或者把甘蓝分装到小袋子里，然后放在冰箱里。有些蔬菜在冷冻前应该焯一下，比如豆制品、西兰花和芦笋。

有孔的牛皮纸袋可以用来储存新鲜蔬菜，以延长保质期，但这种方法并不能阻止蔬菜在冰箱里散发气味。西红柿、茄子、青豆等蔬菜也可以真空密封。