The broccoli at Asian resteraunts is cooked but is still crunchy/ how do you cook it and keep it crunchy ?

Answer 1

They blanch it!
Blanching is throwing the broccoli into a large pot of rapidly boiling water and cooking it for a minute or two, then, immediately placing into an ice water bath. This deactivates enzymes, stops the cooking and sets the bright color!
Then when cooking your Beef with Broccoli they toss some into your dish and voila! Crispy brocs!
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NEVER put baking soda into cooking water, it leaches out vitamines!
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Answer 2

There are so many ways to do this, depending upon your likes.

1. Steam it: Put a couple of inches of water in a wide pan. Put the broccoli in a metal colander and set the colander in the pan. Put the lid on and, after the water comes to a boil, let it "steam" the broccoli for about 5 minutes. The water shouldn't touch the bottom of the collander. You can test it by piercing the broccoli with a fork or by cutting off a piece and trying it.

2. Put about 1/2-1 inch of water in a pot. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, cover and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli, cover again and cook until it is done the way you want it. Turn the broccoli a couple of times during the cooking process.

3. Saute: Put a tablespoon of good olive oil in a wide saute or frying pan. Add a clove of finely minced garlic. Set the pan on medium heat and warm the garlic in the oil. Don't let the garlic brown. Cut the broccoli in manageable pieces and add to the hot oil/garlic mixture. You can raise the heat a bit at this point. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. When it's done to your liking, put into a serving dish and squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over it with salt and pepper to taste.

You can also add a little grated parmesan cheese with the lemon, salt and pepper if you want.

Happy eating - and cooking.

Answer 3

It's cooked for a very short time. A lot of restaurants will throw the vegetables in ice water too to stop the cooking. Try both to see how it works.

Answer 4

Blanch it.
Boil it for just a couple of min then immediately put it in a bowl with water and ice. The ice water stops the cooking process there for the color stays and so does the crunch. :)

Hope this helped.

Answer 5

simply cook it for half of the time that you normally cook it

if adding it to noodle dishes then blanch it first as above

if in fried rice then just cut into small pieces and no need to blanch, just fry.

Answer 6

Steam it. If you put baking soda in the water the broccoli will stay bright green.

Answer 7

Cook in a wok.

Answer 8

Blanch it. Here's how: http://www.ehow.com/how_13887_blanch-vegetables.html

Stir fry it. Here's how: http://www.ehow.com/how_2891_stir-fry-anything.html