Blanching – Gailan with Garlic
Why blanch vegetables? It can be difficult to balance the timing of many dishes near meal time - one thing in the oven, another on the stove, another in an appliance...and overcooking vegetables happens all too frequently. Blanching your vegetables insures that they are perfectly cooked and just need a quick reheat with some added flavour.
We are making one of our favourite dishes - Gailan with Garlic - to show you how to blanch your vegetables but this is a technique used all over the world and is not specific to Asian cuisines..
- ‘woody’ veggies like gailan, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, asparagus, etc (cut in roughly the same size pieces)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- large pot of boiling water
- butter, stock or neutral oil (we use sunflower)
- minced garlic (or ginger, chili flakes, salt & pepper, toasted chopped nuts or seeds)
- optional finishing (drizzle of oyster sauce, honey, extra virgin olive oil, truffle oil, sprinkling of minced parsley or cilantro, fresh thyme or dill fronds, off the heat)
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and add the salt. Prepare a large bowl or another pot with cold water or ice water and have it nearby. Drop your vegetables into the boiling water and cook only until they are there brightest versions of themselves - this can be anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on how 'woody' your vegetables are and how finely (or not) cut they are. A carrot matchstick will be very fast, as carrot chunk will be longer.
Pull the vegetables out of the boiling water and immediately plunge them into the cold/ice water to stop the cooking. After a few minutes, drain and set aside for your final cook.
When it's almost time to eat, heat up a pan or a wok over fairly high heat. Add you oil, butter or stock and then toss in your drained vegetables. Toss them around to warm them through and adjust seasoning by adding minced garlic, salt, chili flakes, a drizzle of balsamic or whatever suits your meal. It should only take a minute or so. You can add other optional flavours off the heat like oyster sauce, good oils, honey, toasted nuts or seeds or fresh herbs.
