Some known and unknown facts on blanching

What is blanching:

Blanching is a very basic method of cooking that we often do in our kitchen to make different kind of dishes or refrigerated or frozen for later use. Briefly the cooking items are boiled and then plunged into ice water.

Do you really know the exact method of blanching? If not, here is the technique-

The technique:

•  Take the vegetables or fruits that you want to blanch (such as tomatoes, peaches, peas, spinach or anything).
•  Put them in the boiling water for the prescribed time ( usually 1-3 minutes).
• Lift out the items and transfer them to cold water. – When the items are completely cool, remove them from the ice bath.

Why blanching:

• It helps loosen skin for peeling and also preserve color and texture from turning grey ( asparagus, green peas, green beans, spinach, tomatoes, peaches).
• Leeches out bitterness.
• Removes raw smell of vegetables.

These technique may be used in stir-fries, salads or making purees ( such as tomato puree)