Parboiling (or leaching) is the partial or semi boiling of food as the first step in cooking. The word is from the Old French parbouillir, 'to boil thoroughly' but by mistaken association with "part", it has acquired this definition.
The word is often used when referring to parboiled rice. Parboiling can also be used for removing poisonous
Basic technique
The food items are added to boiling water and cooked until they start to soften, then removed before they are fully cooked. Parboiling is usually used to partially cook an item which will then be cooked another way such as
braising,
grilling, or
stir-frying. Parboiling differs from blanching in that one does not cool the items using cold water or ice after removing them from the boiling water.
Parboiled rice
Sometimes raw rice or paddy is
dehusked by using steam. This steam also partially boils the rice while dehusking. This process generally changes the colour of rice from white to a bit reddish. This type of rice is eaten in the districts of
Udupi and
Dakshina Kannada of
Karnataka state, in the state of
Kerala, and in most parts of
Tamil Nadu,
Bihar, and
West Bengal in
India.
West Africa and the
Afro-Caribbean African diaspora are also accustomed to parboiling rice.
See also
