Blanch

To blanch is to cook food very briefly in boiling water, then lift it out and cool it fast, usually in a bowl of iced or very cold water.

Cooks blanch for a few different reasons. Green vegetables such as beans, broccoli and peas keep their colour and some crunch, and can be cooked ahead and reheated quickly in butter or a stir-fry. Tomatoes and peaches spend a few seconds in the water so their skins slip off. Almonds are blanched to loosen their brown skins.

Blanching also comes before freezing most vegetables. The National Center for Home Food Preservation explains that it stops enzyme actions which would otherwise cost flavour, colour and texture in the freezer (NCHFP).

Use plenty of well-salted water so the boil comes back quickly, and work in small batches. Once the food is cold, drain it well and pat it dry, or it will spit in the pan later.

The word is the same in British and American English.