Hey, SLO County diners: Try these tips to order, transport and reheat takeout food
We love our local restaurants and want them to outlast the disastrous financial effects of COVID-19.
San Luis Obispo County’s return to the red tier of coronavirus restrictions on March 3 could help, at least somewhat.
“I don’t think there’ll be an onslaught of people ready to eat inside, not until they really feel it’s safe for them to do that,” said Shanny Covey, co-owner of Robin’s Restaurant in Cambria.
Given the choice, some diners may opt to go inside for coziness or to get out of uncomfortable weather.
But either option beats most takeout, unless you eat it on the spot.
In the meantime, we’ve come to a gnarly pandemic conclusion: Lots of our favorite foods don’t survive well in a takeout container, although a lot of our North Coast restaurants do it well.
Sure, we’re all used to getting certain ready-to-eat foods in boxes: pizza, doughnuts, even Haagen-Dazs ice cream on a stick.
Fast food was designed to be served to go, so what we get is what we expect to get — and what some foodie snobs would say we deserve.
Takeout containers work well for cold sandwiches and most salads, especially with dressing on the side.
Other inside-the-box success stories? Well-done meats, such as barbecued ribs. Meatloaf or meatballs. Mashed potatoes can survive, as long as there’s more than a quarter cup of them to hold in the heat.
But transporting other goodies in a box or a bag? The result is often instant goo, due to the sinister power of steam.
If you’re going farther than a mile or two, meat or fish cooked medium rare could be well-done shoe leather by the time you eat it.
Hot pasta won’t stay al dente for long in a closed container.
Vegetables? Over-steamed in a takeout box, they turn into the nightmare of Great Aunt Maude’s greenish-gray, waterlogged, 20-minute broccoli, which she always served in a bowl with the cooking water but no seasonings, not even salt.
Want to ruin perfectly wonderful tempura? Put it in a box and take it someplace else to eat it.
In fact, just about anything fried turns into takeout glop, including French fries and egg rolls.
And what about breakfast? If cold eggs are “meh,” cold, soggy hash browns are purely awful. And a hot biscuit is a hockey puck by the time it’s cold.
Don’t despair! You can keep ordering takeout. Just be smart about what you order and how you handle it.
Tips on how to order, transport and reheat takeout food
For instance, most stews and soup don’t travel well in those stiffer cardboard cartons many restaurants use. They can leak.
Here’s a plan-ahead workaround — take a wide-mouthed Thermos filled with hot water. The restaurant can then dump out the water and fill the bottle with the chowder, miso or onion soup you bought, which keeps it cozy all the way home.
What about the hot sandwich you loved, but didn’t finish?
Discard the soggy bread and the lettuce once you’ve bought it home. Gently rewarm the filling in the microwave, make some new toast, add whatever spread you like best, and then reassemble your sandwich with fresh lettuce.
You can even rejuvenate some fried foods. Even fried chicken.
On those rare occasions when we splurge on a bucket of wings and thighs to take home, 30 miles away, we take a flat baking pan with us. Laying the chicken out flat on the pan keeps it crisp. It may be cold, but it’s crunchy.
Does your entree have lots of separate components, such chips, salsa, guacamole and cotija cheese, and you don’t want them casserole-style? Here’s a tip: Ask the restaurant to pack them separately.
A few other hot-box delicacies you steamed into oblivion in takeout containers can be reincarnated with the help of your fave kitchen appliances.
Put those French fries in a single layer in an air fryer, toaster oven or convection oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 3 to 4 minutes, shaking the fries halfway through. They should be toasty, crispy and piping hot again.
A related drill works nicely for that fried chicken. Microwave a piece for about 30 seconds or so to warm its middle, then air fry it until it’s got its crackling mojo back. (Be sure to turn it over halfway through.)
Not a fan of cold pizza? Reheat it in the air fryer — or, for a nicely crisp pizza-wich with no dishes to wash, fold the tops of two pizza slices together, wrap them in foil and reheat them in your panini press.
So, please, please help our wonderful restaurants survive until they can rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.
Dine inside or out there, if you’re comfortable doing so. If not, keep ordering takeout as often as your budget allows, and be inventive.
Just plan ahead a little. Your taste buds will thank you.
This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 5:05 AM.
