blanch

Green beans blanching in hot water on the left and cooling in ice water on the right
Blanch in hot water, then shock in ice water when the recipe calls for rapid cooling.

A technique of cooking items, often vegetables, briefly in large amount of
rapidly boiling, usually salted water.

Blanching versus shocking

Blanching is the brief cooking step. Shocking is the separate step of cooling the food quickly in ice water to stop it cooking further. A recipe may call for blanching without shocking when the food will go straight into the next cooking step.

Put the term into practice

Use the blanching and shocking green vegetables method for the full preparation sequence and texture checks. For other cooking terms, return to the culinary glossary.