What is blanching?
Blanching is a cooking method done by poaching fruits and vegetables, gently and quickly, in boiling water. The quick part is important. "Blanching" is not the same as "boiling." Usually the dunk is a minute or two and can be as quick as mere seconds. You’re not boiling the ingredient to cook it completely through; blanching is done to just soften or cook the exterior. That’s why it’s normally a good cooking method for vegetables where you want to tenderize the exterior to take any bitter tannins and woodiness away, like with green beans or asparagus.
Admission: I’m a little lazy; it’s a small batch of veggies I just run it 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 go in. Credit: Allie Chanthorn ReinmannLet’s talk about bitterness first because it’s very specific. Boiling leaches away some properties of vegetables, including flavor. This is why boiling isn’t usually the most recommended method for cooking everything —you can lose flavor to the water and, if it’s not soup, that ends up down the drain. However, unpalatable bitter flavors can be solved with a long blanch. My favorite example, because it’s disgusting unless it’s blanched, is broccoli rabe. If you don’t think you like broccoli rabe, please read this, and try cooking it again.
There are levels to it
The amount of time that you dunk something in slowly boiling water will vary depending on what the food is, and the result you want. If I’m blanching green beans, it only takes about one minute for a nicely dressed side dish. They’ll be softened and less bitter, but not in the least bit floppy or mushy.
The basic blanching method
1. Set up your blanching station
Blanching is fast, so you want to be ready for the next move. Set a large pot on medium heat with a lid on it and bring the water to a boil. While that’s happening, fill a large bowl with cold water and add a cup of ice. Have the veggies prepped (trimmed or cut if needed), an easy timer to use, and a wide slotted spoon to plunge and scoop out the food.
A blanching station allows you to move the veggies around easily. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann3. Ice plunge
Drop the veggies straight into the ice bath and use the spoon to submerge them. You might actually see the color of the vegetable really brighten at this moment. Get all of the veggies in the cold water as soon as possible. After 20 seconds or so you can scoop them out onto a wire rack to drip dry. They’re ready to use.
Cruciferous veggies are often tough and hold some bitterness so they do really well with blanching. Try doing this with broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus, and thin heirloom carrots. I highly recommend this method for peeling tomatoes and peaches too. Cut a shallow “x” on the bottom of either fruit, blanch for 20 to 30 seconds, and when you take them out of the water bath you’ll feel the skin slip right off.
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