Page Contents
How To Blanch Chicken
To blanch the chicken, bring the water to a boil and then add the chicken. Simmer it until the chicken is half cooked within 15 minutes. Preparation time may be about 10 minutes. You should cook the chicken once it has been removed from the water. You may also season it with salt and pepper.
There is nothing complicated about boiling water (or stock) and adding chicken, but there are some tips that will help get you to a better outcome. Making boiled chicken (aka poaching chicken) is an easy way to have cooked chicken for adding to recipes. Instead of boiling, poached chicken is simmered very gently in liquid, such as water or stock, until cooked.
Just as with every chicken breast cooking method, allow the chicken breast to rest for an additional 5-10 minutes in just enough cool water or broth to keep the moisture. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and allow to simmer for about 10-12 minutes, or until your poached chicken is cooked. Reduce heat to simmering, cover pot, and allow chicken to simmer.
Once the water is boiling again, immediately reduce heat to its lowest setting, cover, and cook on the stovetop for 3-5 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the chicken breasts. Bring water to the boil, add the chicken, and then reduce heat to medium-high, simmering the pieces until partially cooked. You are just boiling them at first to get the liquid up to temperature, but then you are finishing them off in the simmering liquid. Cold water is the key here, as it allows the chickens to cook much more slowly than they would have had you simply dumped them in the boiling water.
Chickens are cooked at 65degC/150degF, so as long as your water is at or above that temperature, your chickens are cooked. This means if you are located in an area that is higher in elevation, the recipe will have to be modified so that boiling the water in which the chicken is cooked is done before taking it off the burner, in order to make sure that the chicken is cooked. Taking portions or whole chicken out of water and placing on a plate to cool may stop the cooking process in its tracks. You are not boiling your chicken all the way through (that will lead to mushy, dry chicken!).
By the way, if you want to read about foods that are sour, check out my article.
I have found my chicken is less dry if I will allow this chicken to rest (just as with a roast, or any other method) after it is cooked. Water is boiling at 212 degrees, so if you let your chicken sit in water for too long, you are going to end up overcooking and drying it out, but start checking at about the 12-15-minute mark, and you should be okay. Pull out if your chicken is slightly underdone while cooking, you can return to the broth later on during cooking. If it is not cooked through, pull chicken from the water, return to the simmer, return the breasts and remove from cooker.
After 20 minutes of cooking time (best up to an hour), remove chicken. Next, flip the entire chicken over onto a rack, pouring any remaining water on top. Blanch a whole chicken for 10 to 15 minutes, if making a soup or stock. Place whole chicken, cavity-side up, into a deep stockpot, then cover it with 3 to 4 inches of cold water.
Trim any fat from a whole chicken and place in a deep roasting pan, breast-side down, on a rack made from a wire with a hole at the bottom. Rinse the chicken in running tap water until cool enough to handle. In a medium saucepan, bring approximately 5 cups of water (enough water to cover the chicken breasts) to a simmer over high heat with the chicken breasts, ginger slices, and green onions. Add enough water to cover the chicken in poaching water by about an inch, and then set the pan over medium-high heat, waiting, but not raising the heat, for the poaching liquid to reach a very low simmer.
There is no added salt to poaching either, and poaching chicken is given a savoury flavour by adding garlic and herbs to the water in which it is cooked. The chicken poached is steeped in flavors from onion, garlic, spices, and chicken stock, creating a subtle flavour profile that compliments everything else that it is placed in. Poaching a chicken takes just about 15 minutes, so it is an easy weeknight dinner option. Poaching chicken is such an easy, fast way to cook this cut of meat, as well as being a lot healthier than other cooking techniques like shallow-frying.
| Steps to blanch chicken | Conditions |
| Chicken cooking | 20-25 minutes at 65degC |
| Simmering | 10-12 minutes |
| Blanching | 10-15 minutes |
| Flavoring ingredients | onion, garlic, spices, and chicken stock |
| Poaching chicken | 15 minutes |
Chicken can be cooked in a variety of ways, and used as a base for chicken enchiladas, poached chicken salad, chicken panini, chicken noodle soup, and other wonderful dishes. Use fresh herbs and chicken stock to create a juicy, tender, flavorful chicken that you can chop up or chop up for the next meal. Using chicken broth, onions, garlic, and fresh herbs, you can easily create chicken that goes great in any number of other recipes. Other ways of spicing up your boiling chicken broth cooking liquid include adding onion wedges, carrot pieces, celery pieces, garlic cloves, broth granules, herbs, salt, and lemon juice or peel.
Cooking in boiling liquid is a perfect way to cook chicken breasts, which quickly get dried out in the oven or on the grill when we just turn the heads for one minute. Instead of boiling chicken breasts on a low heat, I put them into a boiling stockpot, instantly take the pan off the heat and cover, then allow it to rest for about 15-17 minutes, or until the chicken is just cooked. If you are planning on brining your chicken several hours or a day before cooking, add it immediately to a bowl of ice water afterward to reduce the temperature to 40 degrees F. or lower, the temperature where bacteria cannot thrive. To check whether the chicken is cooked, poke a hole through the chickens fat side to see if juices are running clear, rather than muddy, into the poaching water.
Do you want to read about how long does kahlua last, check out my article.
Follow the same process, but begin checking the chicken for doneness around 20 minutes and keep cooking until there is no pink left, and internal temperature is 165.
Why is blanching done?
Blanching halts the enzyme processes that would otherwise result in flavor, color, and texture loss. Additionally, blanching helps decrease vitamin losses, improves color, and eliminates some surface dirt and microbes. Additionally, it causes some veggies (such as broccoli and asparagus) to soften and wilt, making them simpler to pack.
Should I boil the chicken before frying it?
Boiling chicken before frying it is simply not necessary, and doing so could detract from the flavor of your food. Although it is possible to boil chicken before frying it, the flavor will be affected, and there may even be a chance that the crust will fall off.
How can I tenderize chicken quickly?
One of the best do-it-yourself methods to tenderize chicken before cooking is to pound it. This is so that the chicken can cook more quickly since the hammering breaks down the fibers in the meat. Make sure the chicken is covered or wrapped in plastic wrap or a sealable bag.