‘Not Just Frying, Boil Them Too’: Pay Attention When Cooking These Foods to Stay Healthy

Boiling or parboiling in water is not merely a preliminary step in preparing many foods. If the correct method is not followed, not only is the flavour of the food lost, but it can also have a negative impact on physical health. Therefore, special care must be taken when cooking the following foods.

To remove the naturally occurring oxalic acid in leafy vegetables, all green leafy vegetables should first be briefly boiled in boiling water and then immediately plunged into cold water. Doing so removes most of the acidic compounds and also fundamentally eliminates any bitter taste. Vegetables that require thorough washing with water, such as cauliflower, cabbage, mushrooms, and radishes, need only be boiled in hot water for one to two minutes.

Green vegetables containing natural toxins must be boiled without fail, and the water used for boiling should not be reused. Legumes and pulses such as beans, bodi, kidney beans, soybeans, hyacinth beans, broad beans, and yardlong beans must be thoroughly boiled to destroy the naturally occurring toxins they contain; otherwise, serious digestive problems can occur.

When eating potatoes as a salad, they should first be boiled in boiling water for five minutes until they turn dark and soft. Mustard greens should be boiled in boiling water for three to five minutes and then soaked in cold water overnight. Dried bamboo shoots should be placed in cold water before cooking, brought to a boil, and then boiled again for a further five to ten minutes.

Since germs such as salmonella and listeria can easily proliferate in the moist environment of sprouts, they must be cooked in boiling water for 30 seconds to one minute. As the skin of raw taro contains a significant amount of toxic substances, the skin must be removed and the taro cut into pieces, soaked in cold water for one hour, and then thoroughly boiled again in boiling water for more than 20 minutes.

Bitterness in both cucumber and bitter gourd signals an excess of a compound called cucurbitacin, so they should not merely be parboiled but properly cooked; otherwise, they may even be unfit for consumption.

Seafood must be cooked in boiling water without exception. Frozen seafood must be fully defrosted first before cooking, and a little salt, ginger, onion, and cooking wine should be added to the water to remove any fishy odour. When boiling meat, to eliminate odour and preserve the meat’s flavour, place the meat in cold water, add ginger, garlic, onion, and cooking wine together, gradually increase the heat on a low flame, and once it has boiled for one to two minutes, remove the meat and rinse it with lukewarm water.

Oil-absorbent foods such as chickpea flour batter, paneer, and soybean nuggets, when first parboiled directly in water until half-cooked and only then fried in a pan, absorb much less oil, thereby reducing concerns about weight gain.