How to cook broccoli: 2 ways

Many articles have been written about the great benefits of broccoli. The people are inspired and with terrible force begins to stuff their unusual little cabbage with this extraordinary cabbage. But for some reason, adult broccoli themselves are not very fond of. And most of the children categorically refuse to use such a product. What is the matter? Why does this delicious vitamin supplement not win hearts and stomachs? The answer is simple. It’s not being cooked properly.

Let's figure out how to cook broccoli properly so that it appeals to you.

General rules

Most important: the more broccoli head out, the longer it needs to be cooked. But you must make sure that it does not turn into an unappetizing slurry. In mashed potatoes, you turn it yourself when you need it. And if you miss and digest, then instead of a nutritious dish you get a watery, foul-smelling slurry without useful substances.

Another detail: broccoli must be added with water for cooking. Not for the full taste, but quite a bit. But surely! Because this is how most of the minerals and vitamins are preserved. They will go into fresh water much faster; practically nothing will remain in the cabbage itself. And salt removes from the heads of cabbage a characteristic bitterness that few people like.

Broccoli should only be placed in boiling water. It doesn’t matter if you are going to cook fresh or frozen cabbage. In both cases - only in boiling water. This is done in order to preserve nutrients and nutrients, as mentioned above.

We do not indicate the exact cooking time. It all depends on the number of broccoli and the size of the heads of cabbage. But, the shorter the heat treatment time, the more vitamins you get in the finished dish. It would seem that this statement contradicts the very first, but! There is one trick. To cook broccoli as soon as possible, be sure to divide it into small heads of cabbage. What will it give us?

1. The surface of the cabbage in contact with boiling water will increase. So she cooked much faster than one big head of cabbage.
2. Boiling time will decrease. So in the final dish there will be a maximum of minerals and vitamins. And not in the water.
3. The finished side dish looks much more aesthetically pleasing and more beautiful when the cabbage heads are small. You must admit that huge caps in a plate do not add appetite.

By the way, frozen broccoli is not thawed before cooking. From the freezer, it is immediately thrown into boiling water. Otherwise, there is a great risk of getting an ugly mess instead of the original side dish.

And one more important rule: fresh broccoli must be washed before cooking. And not just rinse under running water, but soak in salted water for at least 30 minutes. The fact is that small insects can lurk in inflorescences. Soaking will allow them to surface. Then an unpleasant surprise at dinner can be avoided.

In the case of frozen broccoli, such precautions would be unnecessary. At the factory, all the required cleaning measures have already been taken.

Well, now let's take a step-by-step look at how to cook broccoli properly.

Fresh heads of cabbage

You will need:

• 1 medium-sized head of broccoli
• pan
• approximately 2 liters of pure water
• 1 tsp plain salt (no slide)
• table fork
• colander or slotted spoon
• second pan with ice water

The process is step by step. Put the first pan on the fire, pour water and add salt. Pre-soak the cabbage, rinse. Cut into small heads of cabbage and remove leaves. By the way, do not throw out the stump. It is cooked together with the bulk, and then they prepare amazing puree or delicious sauce on its basis.

As soon as the water boils, immediately pour broccoli into the pan. Whole, not one slice. Wait for repeated boiling and reduce the fire to medium.Strong boiling broccoli is useless.

Some sources refer to the exact cooking time. It varies from 2 to 7 minutes. But we will do it easier. Remember there is a table fork in the list? Here it will be an indicator. Why exactly the plug and not the exact time? Because different hostesses have different:

• varieties of broccoli
• head sizes
• volume of products
• hardness of water

Therefore, we just take an ordinary table fork and try to pierce any head of cabbage. Does the pulp lend itself easily? So it’s ready. Can't pierce broccoli with a fork? Let it boil a couple more minutes. But no more, otherwise it’s a mess.

Now you need to quickly stop the cooking process. For this, you need a second saucepan with ice water. Ready broccoli is thrown into a colander, then immersed in cold water for a minute. Or even simpler: throw boiled heads out with a slotted spoon.

That's it, you cooked the broccoli correctly.

Tip. Broccoli is boiled in a small amount of water. This is not pasta. Cabbage needs so much fluid that it only covers the heads of cabbage.

Frozen heads of cabbage

As a rule, in the production of such cabbage has already passed all the preparatory stages of processing. That means you don’t have to wash, clean or cut it. You just have to cut the bag and toss the cabbage into boiling water. Further actions are completely identical to those described above. Boils, boils, check with a fork, cool.

The only difference is the cooking time. Frozen broccoli is cooked for several minutes longer than freshly cut cabbage. She just needs more time to completely warm up and boil. By the way, they are no different in taste.

Tip. Immediately after cooling, grease the broccoli with melted butter and let it soak for literally 5 minutes. Such a side dish does not require other additions and is tasty in itself. Only certainly oil, and not margarine or substitute, otherwise spoil everything. This then will not eat even hungry chickens.

Some housewives cook broccoli in a double boiler. Well, the taste and color, as they say ... But with this method, cabbage will not get the saltiness that is obtained by cooking in water. Yes, and unpleasant bitterness in the taste remains. Therefore, choose for yourself what is right for you.

Now you know how to cook broccoli, so that the child does not pick his finger on the plate. Yes, and addicted yourself, we are sure, of course, subject to our recommendations.

Video: how to cook broccoli correctly and quickly