Blanching

This involves putting food into boiling water or into moderately hot oil for a few minutes to cook it briefly but not entirely. It is a sort of softening-up process to prepare food for final cooking. Harder vegetables, such as broccoli or carrots, are sometimes blanched in boiling water for several minutes, then plunged into cold water to arrest the cooking process. In such cases, blanching usually precedes stir-frying to finish the cooking.