Blanching
Blanching is a fundamental technique in Chinese cooking that briefly cooks ingredients in boiling water — it removes bitterness and off-flavors, preserves vibrant green color, and is a key step in controlling vegetable texture.
Why It Works
Blanching uses brief exposure to high heat to deactivate certain enzymes in plant cells while also drawing out oxalic acid and other bitter compounds. This achieves several things at once: removing bitterness and off-flavors, fixing color, and shortening subsequent cooking time.
Steps
- Use plenty of water and bring it to a full rolling boil before adding the ingredients, so the water temperature doesn't drop too much and prolong cooking. 2. Leafy greens need about 10–30 seconds; root vegetables and soy products need 1–3 minutes. 3. After blanching leafy greens, plunge them immediately into cold water to lock in their vibrant green color and crisp texture.
Key Points
Blanching high-oxalate vegetables like spinach and amaranth greens significantly reduces their oxalic acid content, cutting down on bitterness and improving the body's actual absorption of minerals like calcium and iron. Blanching soy products (like tofu or dried tofu skin) is mainly for removing beany off-flavors and helping them hold their shape — a little salt can be added to the water.
Common Questions
Longer isn't always better when it comes to blanching — over-blanching causes significant loss of water-soluble vitamins and leaves ingredients mushy. Never cover the pot when blanching leafy greens — in an enclosed environment, organic acids can't escape as vapor, which causes the chlorophyll to yellow quickly.
Tips
Adding a little cooking oil to the blanching water creates a thin oil film on the surface of the ingredients, further reducing nutrient loss in leafy greens during blanching while also giving the leaves a glossier, more appetizing sheen — a nice touch for a beautifully plated dish, especially when entertaining guests.
