Blanching is a great cooking method to add to your toolbox, and it turns out that some vegetables are actually better off this way. If you’ve heard of it but aren’t quite sure how to do it, you’ve come to the right place. H
What is blanching?
Blanching is a cooking method that gently and quickly poaches fruits and vegetables in boiling water. The quick part is important. “Blanching” is not the same as “cooking.” Typically the immersion takes a minute or two and can be as short as a few seconds. You don’t need to boil the ingredient to fully cook it. Blanching only serves to soften or even soften the exterior. For this reason, it’s usually a good cooking method for vegetables where you want to tenderize the exterior to remove bitter tannins and woody notes, like green beans or asparagus.
The second part of blanching is usually an ice water bath. Anything freshly removed from a heat source, be it the oven or microwave, retains heat. This internal heat can continue to cook the food for minutes. This may not sound like a big deal, but something you want to gently cook for 20 seconds just to lighten it up can lose its snappy quality due to what’s called carry-over cooking. This cooking can be stopped by immersing it in ice water.
Admission: I’m a bit lazy; It’s a small amount of vegetables that I simply run under cold water. You can be better than me and make an ice bath.
It’s normal for a lot of ice to melt once all the hot vegetables are in.
Photo credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
What is the point of blanching?
If blanching doesn’t fully cook the food, why? The main reasons you might even consider blanching, or why you see it in recipes, are that you want to preserve the integrity of the interior for some reason, or that the vegetable is particularly bitter.
Let’s talk about bitterness first, because it’s very specific. When cooked, some of the vegetable’s properties are lost, including its taste. For this reason, boiling is usually not the most recommended method of cooking everything – You can lose flavor to the water and if it’s not soup, it ends up down the drain. However, unpleasant bitter flavors can be eliminated by blanching for a long time. My favorite example, because it’s gross if it’s not blanched, is broccoli rabe. If you think you don’t like broccoli rabe, Please read thisand try cooking it again.
As for the interior, blanching makes it possible to take the raw edge out of some vegetables while still keeping them crispy or chewy. It’s a great opportunity refine a raw vegetable platter. Another excellent use is removing the peel from some fruits. For example, you can do this with tomatoes to get a silky-smooth sauce that doesn’t leave the rolled-up pieces of skin floating around, or with peaches so you can bake a delicious peach pie Peach crunchy.
There are levels
How long you submerge something in slowly boiling water depends on the type of food and the desired result. When I blanch green beans, it only takes about a minute to create a beautifully presented side dish. They become softer and less bitter, but not the least bit flabby or mushy.
Blanching something very delicate can be a tricky business. Sometimes asparagus or snap peas can overcook within a few seconds. For these items, pour-over blanching is better. Place the vegetables in a colander and simply pour boiling water over them. This stream of hot water is just enough to cook the outside without wilting the most delicate parts.
The basic blanching method
1. Set up your blanching station
Blanching is quick, so you want to be ready for the next step. Place a large pot with a lid over medium heat and bring the water to a boil. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with cold water and add a cup of ice. Prep the vegetables (cut or chop if necessary), use an easy-to-use timer, and a wide slotted spoon for dipping and scooping out the food.
With a blanching station you can easily move the vegetables.
Photo credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
2. Blanching
When the water is boiling, remove the lid and add a little salt – half a teaspoon is enough for a medium-sized pot. Add a handful of vegetables. If the pot is large, you can add more, but you don’t want the water to cool so much that it stops boiling; You will probably work in batches. Activate your timer for as long as you want. Using the slotted spoon, dip the vegetables so they are completely submerged. When the timer goes off, scoop them out.
3. Ice Jump
Add the vegetables directly to the ice bath and use the spoon to submerge them. You may actually see the color of the vegetable really lighten at this moment. Add all of the vegetables to the cold water as quickly as possible. After about 20 seconds, you can place them on a rack to drain. They are ready to use.
Cruciferous plants are often tough and have a certain bitterness, which is why they are very suitable for blanching. Try this with broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus and thin heirloom carrots. I also recommend this method for peeling tomatoes and peaches. Cut a shallow “X” into the bottom of each fruit, blanch them for 20 to 30 seconds, and when you remove them from the water bath, you will feel the peel immediately slip away.
