[Sca-cooks] OP: stir fry question

Vitaliano Vincenzi vitaliano at shanelambert.com
Thu Jun 7 08:25:28 PDT 2007


I do a lot of stir-fry, and I have NEVER EVER blanched the veggies 
beforehand. Fresh veggies work best, in my opinion, and why waste time 
on an extra, unneeded step. Perhaps they do it so the veggies won't be 
so crisp after stir-frying - but I like them crisp.

In fact, the only time I ever have blanched any veggies is for us in 
salads or if I was going to freeze or can them. Otherwise, I cook them 
fresh in whatever dish I am making - including the grilled asparagus 
with lemon and garlic glaze last night.

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanching - says that blanching 
can enhance the flavor and color of the vegetable. I don't agree with 
that, but then again, it is wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt, 
which by the way is good on several fresh veggies. :)

Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise wrote:
> We get Wegman's Menu magazine at home, presumably because it's food 
> pictures and it's free, though if you want to actually use any of the 
> recipes, you have to guess what they put in the "Food You Feel Good 
> About" allegedly-fresh packages that they encorporate into every recipe.
> 
> My roomate who does the cooking is just beginning to do stir-frying, so 
> I was interested to see a bunch of stir-fry recipes in the issue 
> currently living in our bathroom.
> 
> However, I was shocked to see that the recipes recommended blanching the 
> stir-fry veggies before stir-frying. My mom learned to stir-fry from one 
> of those half-size wok cookbooks in the 1970s and she taught me, so what 
> do I know? Still, I've never blanched a stirfry veg in my life. 
> 
> Is this really common practice, or is this some wierd survival of the 
> 1950s pre-blanching of everything by trained chefs that Elizabeth David 
> complains about in _An Omlette and a Glass of Wine_?
> 

-- 
Lord Vitaliano Vincenzi
aka Shane Lambert
http://www.periodfood.blogspot.com
Shire of Rokeclif: http://www.rokeclif.org
Kingdom of Northshield: http://www.northshield.org



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