Is blanching raw?

[RawNubian]

Hello everyone, I was just contemplating trying to make a raw version of steamed callaloo and the idea of blanching came to mind since I often hear about people blanching almonds. But then I thought "Does blanching destroy enzymes in vegetables?" Is blanching acceptable in raw food preparation?
Thanks in Advance
RawNubian

[desertroadrunner]

I've seen some raw recipes calling for blanching. Tough veggies like asparagus, brocoli etc. are better and easier to digest when blanched. It does destroy enzymes, but not as many as steaming or cooking some other way. It's also a personal choice.

[rawpriestess]

I do not blanch, but I do "wilt" in the dehydrator to make things more "cooked" taste and textured.

I still love my food warm, and this works for me.

[anthony11]

Not strictly 'raw', but a damn sight better than cooking into oblivion. I don't blanch stuff I process, but many commercial frozen ones are blanched. I don't sweat it. At least one recipe in Alissa's book explicitly calls for frozen [blanched] corn, FWIW.

[rawpriestess]

Hi Anthony,

Just to let you know, we've discussed this frozen corn thingy for use in her enchilada recipe, and Alissa said that she cuts the fresh kernels off the cob and freezes them herself. She does not buy frozen corn.

[anthony11]

Ohhh, that's very different.

nevermind

[swiddweas]

I don't blanch, eaither. However, I heard that even organic produce that is frozen in the stores has been blanched!! Is this true does anybody know? I have seen several recipies in raw cookbooks calling for frozen veggies. Does freezing hurt the enzymes, too?

Thanks, Swidweas

[Rawkinlocs]

I don't blanch, eaither. However, I heard that even organic produce that is frozen in the stores has been blanched!! Is this true does anybody know? I have seen several recipies in raw cookbooks calling for frozen veggies. Does freezing hurt the enzymes, too?

Thanks, Swidweas

I'm not sure what blanching does to the nutrients in food. I've heard that it does effect them, though. I guess it depends on how much of a purist you are if you will use them or not. I mean, many use frozen fruit in smoothies (I know I do!) but I'm not sure how much freezing does to the food's nutrients and enzymes. At this point, I'll continue to use some frozen things until my body or my mind tells me I should be doing differently!

[rawpriestess]

I read somewhere that blanching removes 15 to 50% of the nutrients in food, and freezing removes 5 to 15%.

However, allowing food to sit, after it is picked, will also remove nutrients, just placing in the frige removes nutrients.

Corn, has only 1/2 of it's nutrients 10 minutes after it is picked, and other foods vary, but corn seems to be the worst as far as losing nutrients fast, not sure why.

So, when you want the most nutrients in food, the best thing to do is to eat it the minute you pick it. Although we hardly do this even when buying organic produce, we often receive the produce a couple of weeks after it has been picked, and often produce is picked green, and allowed to ripen, in bags, or is gassed to ripen.

So, I often buy at the farmer's market, and usually they have picked it that day or the day before. Or the very best thing is to grow your own, this is my favorite way to eat produce.

However, in the winter and when I want something that won't grow in my back yard, like a pineapple, then I do the best I can.

I buy organic if I can find it, I buy from the co=op or from a health food store, and if I have to I'll buy not organic, but I won't buy canned. I will buy frozen, if I have to.

Anyway, just do the best you can, and buy the most fresh produce you can find, and eat it as soon as you can after it is picked.

But, I love to make all kinds of foods and freeze them, so I have plenty of choices, and that works for me, I get tons of fresh produce, so I feel like it balances out.

I get fresh fruit, greens, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, onions, garlic, squash, everyday, in the summer, so I feel really good about my choices.

good luck with yours.

[RawTruth]

Hello everyone, I was just contemplating trying to make a raw version of steamed callaloo and the idea of blanching came to mind since I often hear about people blanching almonds. But then I thought "Does blanching destroy enzymes in vegetables?" Is blanching acceptable in raw food preparation?
Thanks in Advance
RawNubian

As has been said, it's a personal choice. But, that's not really what you asked, so I'll try to address your specific concern.

You say that you thought about blanching vegetables since blanched almonds came to mind. Not all raw foodists blanch their almonds; blanching is to more easily remove the skins, and some people simply leave the skins on. Rhio blanches the soaked almonds for 20 seconds (pouring boiling water over them, letting 'em sit for 20 seconds, then rapidly draining and plunging immediately into ice water to stop the cooking), but at the Ann Wigmore Institute in Puerto Rico, every single almond is hand peeled with no blanching involved. So, blanching them isn't necessarily an accepted procedure in eating raw.

Vegetables are blanched for longer than 20 seconds. It's a method of cooking, so, isn't an accepted practice in raw food preparation. Cooking vegetables does destroy the enzymes, even if the cooking time is brief -- it's the temperature that counts. You didn't ask about nutrients, but you might want to keep in mind that the vitamins in veggies are destroyed by heat. That alone argues against putting them in boiling water.

Because a recipe or even a few recipes among dozens of raw food uncook books may use blanched veggies (which I've not yet seen, by the way) doesn't mean that's something to aspire to. Some raw food books also include maple syrup and other non-raw ingredients in their recipes. Including those ingredients is not meant to promote the regular use of them, but, rather, to be inclusive for people who are beginning raw or not completely raw (since those are the folks who tend to rely more on those books).

So!!! Now that I've said all of that -- here's some unsolicited advice: if blanching your veggies for one dish occasionally helps you stay away from even worse cooked and processed foods, that's gotta be a good thing. The long term result is what's important. And, if you want this for now and everything else you're eating is totally raw, well, maybe this would be okay until you're on solid enough footing to let go of this and fly 100% raw.

Best of luck.

[RawNubian]

Thanks everyone! I don't think I'll be blanching any vegetables anytime soon although I will continue to use frozen fruit.

[swiddweas]

I'm not sure what blanching does to the nutrients in food. I've heard that it does effect them, though. I guess it depends on how much of a purist you are if you will use them or not. I mean, many use frozen fruit in smoothies (I know I do!) but I'm not sure how much freezing does to the food's nutrients and enzymes. At this point, I'll continue to use some frozen things until my body or my mind tells me I should be doing differently!


Thanks for your reply! Given that I use commercial "raw"almond butter by Maranatha and theirs is not really raw.... I suppose that eating frozen veggies and fruit isn't gonna make a heck of alot of diff.

:rolleyes: