Blanching is considered as a vital step to be done before you wish to freeze vegetables like leafy greens, broccoli, string beans, asparagus, and okra. The process involves boiling or steaming vegetables until they are cooked partially.
Preventing the decay of the vegetable by stopping the enzymatic activity is the prime function of blanching. Pre-treating the food in boiling water or steam helps get rid of the enzymes that can otherwise continue decaying even when the vegetables are in the frozen state.
Blanching is also done to preserve the colors of the vegetables even after they are frozen.
Given below is an easy method through which you can blanch your vegetables at home:
- Clean up the vegetables and place them in a bowl of boiling water. Cook for few minutes.
- After the blenching is done over boiling water, drain the vegetables and immediately pour ice or cold water over them. This is done to cool down the veggies quickly so that the residual does not account for further cooking of the vegetable
- Drain the food properly. For leafy greens, squeeze as much water as possible
- Put the vegetables in bags and place in freezer.
