Blanching veggies before frying

[Josho]

We were given a take-home test this past week. There's one question I'm puzzling over, and it has to do with blanching vegetables before breading or battering them prior to frying them.

The question asks which of the following vegetables should definitely NOT be blanched, or precooked, prior to breading or battering and frying.

The four choices are: broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, and cauliflower.

Now, I know full well that both broccoli and cauliflower should be blanched or precooked in some way before deep-frying in breading or batter.

And I suppose it's possible that there's more than one correct answer. That's happened on these multiple-choice tests before.

But I can make a good case for not having to blanch or precook *either* zucchini *or* asparagus. Both seem like they would cook fast enough to not require blanching.

Any thoughts? I hesitate to actually try (I hate deep-frying at home). Guess I'm leaning towards precooking the asparagus, just to set the color, but...I'm just not confident in this answer.

Many thanks for any wisdom,

Josh

[Abra]

Blanch the asparagus, not the zucchini! Zucchini is mostly water anyway and will get all soggy.

[Chris Amirault]

I agree with Abra. I think that the issue here isn't texture and color but rather moisture. Note that you're being asked about prep for frying, and you want the surface of any food to be dry prior to frying. Unlike the other three, if you try to dredge blanched zucchini, you're going to get a sloppy, slippery surface to which any batter or egg won't cling.

[prasantrin]

I triple the zucchini answer.

If it's a take-home test, should you be asking elsewhere for answers? Just wondering...

[hummingbirdkiss]

it is a tradition here to deep fry asparagus in the spring time and I never blanch it (no one I know does either) before deep frying it it is already so tender there is no point? it would be mushy inside the coating if you blanched it ...

dry well coat with flour and then batter then in the hot hot oil until crispy that is it

Edited April 21, 2008 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Josho]

Prasantrin,

There are a lot of questions on topics that haven't been covered in class and aren't in the textbook, either. I believe we're supposed to research them, and any form of research is fair game as far as I know.

I'll go with the zucchini, since that seems to be the consensus, and I understand the reasons that zucchini would not require blanching: the high water content, the quick cooking time, the texture. What's curious to me, though, is that asparagus would need blanching either, since it cooks so quickly once it's trimmed.

--Josh

[Renn]

I'd say that the answer is both Zucchini and Asparagus...and the reasoning doesn't have so much to do with cooking times or water content, as with the solubility of the main flavor components. Asparagus and Zucchini both contain high amounts of water soluble flavor components and so blanching leaches out much of its flavor.

On the other hand, Broccoli and Cauliflower contain a larger proportion of fat soluble flavor components...and so blanching is not as detrimental.

[Dave the Cook]

Perhaps there's a trick question at work here. For zucchini, don't blanch. Rather, cut it into portions and lay out on a rack. Salt heavily and let it sit for half an hour or so, then rinse and pat dry. The salting leaches out the extra moisture and seasons the vegetable at the same time.