Blanching: culinary schools’ most underappreciated technique

So, what is blanching?

Simply put, blanching is the process of utilising liquid, most commonly heavily salted water, to begin cooking. Then, rapidly stop the cooking process of your ingredient when you’ve reached the desired texture. Science tells us:

Heat transfer is proportional to the difference in temperature between the food and the heat source.

(Myhrvold, 2021, P63)

Therefore, to stop the cooking process rapidly, iced water is used.

The term blanch is broad, and can be dissected into three main components:

Parboiling: Partly cooking ingredients in salted water to a predetermined texture.

Part frying: commonly associated with chips (fries.) It’s the act of frying at a lower temperature before returning the ingredient at a higher temperature to achieve a beautiful golden-brown exterior.

Soaking: By briefly soaking nuts, fruits, and vegetables in boiling water, you break down their fibre walls, creating a product that’s easy to work.

Why do we blanch?

There are lots of reasons to blanch your ingredients. The blanching process traps nutrients before freezing. Blanching helps create a vibrant colour most impressively seen with green beans. As we know, green beans, when raw, emit a murky green hue. But, when blanched and refreshed in ice water, it helps chemicals in the green bean break down, allowing light to escape. This creates the meadow green colour that’s the showstopper in any dish.

However, the blanching process also allows chefs to speed up their cooking time at service. Being half cooked, your vegetables only need to be finished off in a pan- preferably with ample butter.

The result? Perfect to the tooth texture and speed that’s unparalleled by a home cook.