Why You Should Blanch Your Vegetables

With the recent and sudden price increase of most products and goods, it is wise to inform yourself on how you can store these goods especially perishable ones, and preserve them so that none would be wasted. Vegetables are one of these goods, and if you are familiar with buying and storing vegetables, you probably know how fast they rot if not used and consumed immediately. There are a lot of already-known ways on how you can make your vegetables last longer in storage but some of them does not even work, or does not apply to all vegetables. There is also a huge difference between preventing your vegetables from rotting and preserving the freshness and health value of the vegetables for a long period of time. Making your vegetables last is one thing but keeping it fresh and healthy is another. By now, it is obvious that in preserving vegetables or even any kind of perishable food that we consume, it is better to avoid using artificial preservative products and methods. Using artificial and inorganic preservatives just to make your vegetables look fresh for weeks only preserves its looks but their nutritional value and health benefits are already contaminated or decreased greatly. There is a very effective way of keeping your vegetables fresh is a technique that’s been used for many generations but it still as effective today, and that is blanching. Read along as we discover what is blanching, what are its advantages and how to blanch your vegetables.

What is Blanching?

If you’re used to looking for interesting recipes to try, whether online or in books, you have probably come across an instruction that is suggesting that you should blanch a specific ingredient before proceeding to the next step. However, most recipes only suggest to the readers that they should probably blanch their ingredients first and not explain what is blanching and why you should perform that task before moving on the next.

Blanching is a common kitchen technique used in food preparation before cooking. This food preparation technique, generally, is done by submerging the food, commonly the vegetable ingredients, in hot or boiling water. Now, blanching is not just soaking food into bowls of water, there are things that you need to know and do beforehand too. There are different types of blanching as well and each type differs depending on what type of vegetable or ingredient that you would like to blanch. We will discuss each of the blanching types individually, on when to use each type of blanching and with what vegetables.

Although we are focusing on how to blanch vegetables in this article, vegetables are not the only food ingredient that you can blanch. You can also blanch other kind of food such as fruits and nuts. Blanching is a process in which the food is heated, commonly by boiling in order to ensure that the quality of the vegetables would not decrease over time, while cooking. Blanching is not only done to prepare food for direct cooking, because blanching can also be performed to prepare the food for drying, freezing, and for storage. Blanching has so many benefits, especially by enhancing the quality of the vegetables and also making sure that they would stay bright for longer periods of time as blanching can halt discoloration of the ingredients. In learning how to blanch vegetables it is also important to know that blanching can also soften the vegetables and loosen its hardness so that they are easier to peel or mince when needed in the recipe. Sometimes, people add salt to the boiling water when blanching, this addition can be helpful in bringing out the colours of the vegetables. Blanching your vegetable ingredients can also peel off the wax or other chemicals that might be attached to the outer skins of the vegetables, boiling the vegetables first helps in getting rid of surface dirt and other bacteria from the market ensuring that your ingredients are germ-free and not contaminated.

For a more scientific explanation, blanching is a technique or a cooking process in which some enzymes in your vegetables are either blocked or inactivated. These enzymes are what causes the loss of flavour, discoloration, and loss of texture in vegetables, and blanching can block these enzymes which improves the quality of your vegetables. In this process, the loss of the vitamins and nutrients that your vegetables possess are slowed, which makes your ingredients as healthy as they can be in consumption.

Blanching does not end after you boil or submerge your vegetables in boiling water, that is only the first part. The second part is a process in which you would immediately submerge your blanched vegetables in freezing or cold water, giving them a nice ice-cold bath. This process is called shocking.

What is Shocking?

Shocking is a process done after blanching your vegetables. Take note that this step is an important part of blanching your vegetables and should be done in conjunction with blanching your ingredients. Shocking slows down or halts the cooking process of your ingredients. In blanching, the vegetables are partially being cooked since they are being submerged in the extreme temperatures of hot boiling water. Even after removing your blanched vegetables from the pot, they would still be in the process of slowly being cooked due to the heat. Immediately soaking and submerging your blanched vegetables in cold or freezing water makes sure that your vegetables will halt from being cooked by its own heat.

If shocking isn’t done after blanching, your vegetables or other ingredients might get overcooked or be mushy after being cooked in the main process. Forgetting to shock your vegetables can also lead to the nutrients evaporating away before you even use them for your actual cooking. Shocking your blanched vegetables should not last for several minutes, you should not let your vegetables sit in the freezing water for too long as they would then start to absorb the water and become soggy when cooked. In order to retain the crunchiness and overall quality of your vegetables, the technique in shocking is wait for your vegetables to be no longer warm and immediately remove them from the water. Set your blanched and shocked vegetables aside if you are about to use them for cooking, but you can also put them in a proper container and freeze them for later use.

How to Blanch your Vegetables

As stated above, different vegetables require different blanching times. This is a crucial information that people often forget. Some people blanch all their vegetable ingredients at once in one large pot in order to save time but it is actually doing the opposite result. It is very inefficient to blanch all your vegetables at once because the required proper blanching for each type of vegetable is different like for example, firmer vegetables or vegetables with harder skin should be blanched first

Blanching, as easy as it sounds, has three different types or methods that you can choose from. Although these types of blanching are very similar, they also have different effects that results in each type might differ from another. You can choose from these different methods which would depend on your mood or resources at hand.

1. Blanching by Boiling

The first method of blanching vegetables is by submerging them into hot and boiling pot of water. It is recommended to use a high-quality pot for blanching. This is probably the most common method of blanching and the most used by a lot of people. To prepare for blanching by boiling, the first thing that you should do is prepare all the things that you need, this include a pot that is big enough to carry all the vegetables that you will blanch. You have the option to add salt to the water and it is encouraged. Don’t put your vegetables immediately or they will come out soggy and mushy, patiently wait for the water to boil, then proceed to blanch the vegetables one by one according to type, if you are planning to blanch multiple vegetables.

It is best to be attentive to the pot and set a timer so that your vegetables would not be overcooked. Blanching usually last for several seconds, to a few minutes so it is better to keep your eyes on it to avoid over blanching. After blanching for the desired time, quickly soak them into an ice-water bath to shock them. Drain the water carefully, and your vegetables are now ready to be cooked.

2. Blanching by Steaming

The second method of blanching is by using steam. If you have a steamer in your kitchen, you can use it but for better results, you can also use the steam of a boiling water. By using the steam of a boiling pot of water, you can have more control with the heat and time of steaming your vegetables. For this method of blanching, you need a pot of boiling water with a brim that is wide enough to carry a steamer basket or a stainless colander. Fill the pot with water and leave it to boil. If it’s boiling already, you can now put the steamer basket on top of it together with your vegetables that you would like to blanch. Make sure to cover the steamer basket with a proper lid so that the steam gets trapped inside. Make sure also that the steamer basket does not hang too low from the boiling pot of water, just high enough for the bottom of the steamer basket not touch the water.

Steaming can take more time compared to blanching by boiling so make sure to let your vegetables be steam-blanched for roughly two times the amount of time if you were to use the boiling method. After steaming, use oven mitts to take the steamer basket out of the pot, because it can be too hot for the skin. Making sure that you are safe is one of the main rules that you should never forget in the kitchen. After taking the vegetables out of the steamer basket, you can now proceed with shocking and continue with the following steps.

3. Blanching by Microwave

The third method of blanching is by using a microwave. You might wonder why use a microwave when you can use the stove, especially since you will use the stove anyway for cooking the main meal. This method is helpful, mostly for those people who wish to blanch their vegetables but are not allowed to use a stove in the place that they are living at or does not have the essential tools needed. Some apartments and condominiums do not allow the usage of stoves in their units as it can be very risky and can jeopardize the tenants in the building. Microwaving meals can sometimes be the only option.

If you want to know how to blanch vegetables with a microwave, the first thing that you need to do is put the vegetables that you wish to blanch on a microwave-safe container or dish, then add a half cup of water to the dish. Cover the microwave with its lid and set the timer to what is recommended for the vegetable that you are blanching. After the timer goes off, carefully take the dish out of the microwave and continue with shocking.

Blanching your vegetables is a great way of preserving the colours, the taste, and the texture of your vegetables, not to mention, it also helps in preserving the nutrients and vitamins. This kitchen technique can look like an additional work, when you can just wash your vegetables and put it on your dish. But knowing what is blanching, what it does, and how to blanch your vegetables can make your meals a lot healthier and delicious.

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Written by Rashid M.