Blanch
verb /blɑːntʃ/ — Briefly boil food then plunge into ice water to stop cooking.
Definition
A cooking technique in which food is briefly plunged into boiling water, then immediately transferred to ice water to stop the cooking process. Blanching brightens color, loosens skins, and partially cooks vegetables while preserving crispness and nutrients.
Beyond the definition
Blanching is cooking with intention — not enough to finish, just enough to prepare. The ice bath is the chef's act of intervention: 'that's enough, stop now'.
Origin & history
From Old French 'blanchir' (to whiten); from 'blanc' (white). Blanching was originally used to whiten vegetables; the technique has been in culinary use since medieval times.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
She blanched the green beans for ninety seconds, then into the ice bath — they came out vivid and just tender.
Blanching tomatoes loosens the skin enough to peel by hand — thirty seconds in boiling water does what a knife cannot.
Preparation for the feast took two days: blanching, peeling, chopping, ready — a whole vocabulary of getting ready.
How to use it
This entry uses a verb. Follow the examples for tense and any objects or prepositions it needs.
Choose “Blanch” when the meaning fits your context: A cooking technique in which food is briefly plunged into boiling water, then immediately transferred to ice water to stop the cooking process. Blanching brightens color, loosens skins, and partially cooks vegetables while preserving crispness and nutrients.
Synonyms
parboil, scald, shock
Antonyms
raw, fully cook
Related words
Blanch vs parboil
Blanching involves a quick boil followed by an immediate ice-water bath. Parboiling is just partial cooking in water without the cooling step.
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Landscape After Refreshing Rain
A landscape shows a shallow stream flowing over smooth, damp stones, with raindrops on a leaf and sunlight beginning to break through clouds.
Blanching is a technique of briefly boiling and then cooling food to preserve color and crispness. The rainfall revitalizing the foliage acts as an analogy for this process, where an environmental shift preserves a vibrant state.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration
Questions about this word
What does "Blanch" mean?
Blanch is verb meaning: Briefly boil food then plunge into ice water to stop cooking.. A cooking technique in which food is briefly plunged into boiling water, then immediately transferred to ice water to stop the cooking process. Blanching brightens color, loosens skins, and partially cooks vegetables while preserving crispness and nutrients.
Where does the word "Blanch" come from?
From Old French 'blanchir' (to whiten); from 'blanc' (white). Blanching was originally used to whiten vegetables; the technique has been in culinary use since medieval times.