Some say that the difference is that blanched food is thereafter given an ice bath to stop the cooking, a step not necessary when parboiling.
For example, nuts are blanched to soften the skins to make them easier to peel off but they aren’t given an ice bath after blanching. So, it may be more accurate to say that nuts are parboiled rather than blanched to soften the skins to make them easier to remove. In that context, perhaps, the difference between blanching and parboiling is simply a matter of term usage.
For me, the main difference is whether, after the process of boiling, the food is fully or partially cooked. If the food can be eaten after boiling, with or without the ice bath, it was blanched. If the food needs additional cooking, it was parboiled.
Start with plenty of boiling water — plenty enough to submerge the vegetables in. I like to add salt but that’s optional.
Plunge the vegetables in the boiling water. Push them down during the first few seconds to make sure that every part gets in contact with the boiling water all at once.
And here’s something worth remembering: When blanching vegetables, make sure that every part of the veggies will cook at approximately the same time. If the vegetables have thick tough stalks and leaves, it may be best to cut them, separate the tougher portions of the stalks from the leaves, then blanch the stalks longer than the leaves.
How long vegetables should be blanched depends on what vegetables you are blanching and how soft you want them. For instance, pechay (bok choy) or something as delicate will be done in about a minute. Chinese broccoli (in the photos above) takes a few minutes longer. The length of blanching time needed by each kind of vegetable is something you will learn over time just as you will realize that more mature leaves take longer to cook than very young sprouts.
When the vegetables are done to your liking, scoop them out at once. A kitchen spider is really useful for this job.
Plunge the drained vegetables in iced water (which you should have prepared before or during the blanching process). Or place them in a colander and let cold running tap water cool them. Then drain the vegetables.
Depending on the kind of vegetables you blanched and how you intend to serve them, you may want to squeeze out the excess water. You can do this by lightly wringing them or by placing them between kitchen towels and pressing down lightly.
When parboiling, food is boiled in water (or some other liquid), removed, returned to the pan and cooked with the rest of the ingredients for the dish.
Why does food need to be parboiled? Different reasons. One reason is to tighten the skin of a bird such as chicken or duck. Another reason is to remove impurities.
For example, in Asian cooking, when braising or stewing meat, the meat is parboiled to allow scum to be expelled into the water. The partially cooked meat is rinsed not really to cool them down to stop cooking in residual heat but to make sure that any trace of scum is removed. The meat is then drained before going back into the pot.
In blanching, boiling water is poured over vegetables, fruits, or nutmeats in order to loosen the outer skin. Parblanching or parboiling consists in immersing the food in cold water and then bringing it slowly to a simmer or boil.
The world is obsessed with potatoes. Ever since it was transported globally when Christopher Columbus took to the seas in the late 1400s, the tuber gained incredible popularity in Europe. By the year 1750, the potato had spread across Ireland and had become the core crop in the diet of farmers, via Wesley Johnston. The potato has been distilled into vodka, mulched into fertilizer, to thicken soups, make bread, and … well, you get the picture. Once people got their hands on potatoes, there was no going back.
Blanching is often performed before potatoes are to be frozen or in the case of French fries, it is performed in order to allow the starch to gelatinize and improve the texture of the fry, per French Fries Machine. Parboiling, on the other hand, allows for your potatoes to cook faster and helps to create a crispy texture upon the potatoes second cooking cycle whether you decide to grill, bake, or roast them (via Bobs Red Mill). Parboiling and blanching accomplish two different things and are not interchangeable because blanching simply preserves the potatos qualities while parboiling partially cooks and softens it.
According to Love Potatoes, parboiling potatoes involves boiling them for around ten minutes until the outside is soft and ready for roasting, whereas the act of balancing a potato is even quicker and is not meant to soften the potato. Bobs Red Mill says that the blanching process involves bringing the potatoes to a roiling boil and then immediately removing the vegetables from the hot water into an ice bath which stops the cooking process.
Potatoes are some of our favorite underground plants because they are cheap, easy to cook, and super nutritious. UC Davis considers the potato a starchy vegetable, it has a lot of calories and less fiber and makes people feel full when they eat them! These veggies can come in all colors and sizes, and are full of disease-fighting antioxidants so we should absolutely be consuming them regularly, per Healthline. And when it comes to cooking these round tubers, there are a lot of ways to go about it.
Some recipes call for you to blanch your potatoes and some call for parboiling. Many people mistakenly believe that blanching and parboiling are the same, but while both these methods use boiling hot water to cook the tuber, they have different intended results.
Plunge the vegetables in the boiling water. Push them down during the first few seconds to make sure that every part gets in contact with the boiling water all at once.
For example, in Asian cooking, when braising or stewing meat, the meat is parboiled to allow scum to be expelled into the water. The partially cooked meat is rinsed not really to cool them down to stop cooking in residual heat but to make sure that any trace of scum is removed. The meat is then drained before going back into the pot.
Why does food need to be parboiled? Different reasons. One reason is to tighten the skin of a bird such as chicken or duck. Another reason is to remove impurities.
Plunge the drained vegetables in iced water (which you should have prepared before or during the blanching process). Or place them in a colander and let cold running tap water cool them. Then drain the vegetables.
Some say that the difference is that blanched food is thereafter given an ice bath to stop the cooking, a step not necessary when parboiling.
Blanching vs. Parboil: What’s the Difference?
FAQ
What is the difference between parboiling and blanching?
What is the difference between boiling and blanching?
What is the difference between blanching and parboiling group of answer choices?
What is the difference between boiling and parboiling?
What is the difference between blanching and parboiling?
Both involve briefly cooking food in boiling water; however, blanching involves plunging into an ice bath immediately afterwards to halt the cooking process, while parboiling does not.
What is a blanching process?
Blanching is a process whereby food is dropped briefly into a pan of boiling water, typically for one or two minutes just past the raw stage. As soon as the food is taken out of the boiling water, it is immediately plunged into iced water to cool it rapidly and stop any more loss of nutrition.
What is the difference between blanching and cooking?
Both involve boiling water, but there are a number of differences: blanching has two meanings — it’s mainly used when talking about setting (or enhancing) the color of vegetables, with minimal cooking (only the outermost layer is cooked).
What does parboiling mean?
Parboiling means boiling food rapidly but NOT to a quick chilling process. What is Blanching? What is shocking? Why Blanch? What is parboiling? Cooks and chefs often use the parboiling technique to pre-cook food items that will later be cooked differently, such as boiling, grilling, stewing, or stir-frying.