Broccoli rabe is a two-faced jerk. Maybe you ate it at a restaurant and fell in love with its tannins and broccoli-meets-spinachy-kale texture. You’re not alone. You’re also not alone if you then tried to cook it at home and discovered it was completely inedible. The betrayal stings almost as much as the bitterness. Unlike other bitter greens you might have cooked with, broccoli rabe has a dark secret. It tastes like crap unless you blanch it.
When prepared properly, broccoli rabe completely slaps. Its inherent bitterness is incredible with salty, firm cheeses and plays well with garlic and chili flakes, but you can’t just pop it in a pan like kale or arugula. Those are bitter, but pleasantly so. They can be eaten raw in a salad and rev up your taste buds. Raw broccoli rabe, however, is pretty damn harsh. America’s Test Kitchen explains how two naturally occurring components in broccoli rabe, myrosinase and the extremely bitter glucosinolate, can combine during cutting and chewing to make the even more bitter isothiocyanates. Blanching in boiling water is an easy way to make sure fewer of these bitter compounds make it to your palate, and it works like a charm. While ATK considers blanching broccoli rabe might make it too mellow, I disagree.
How to make the best broccoli rabe
ATK recommends cutting the veg less during prep to avoid creating isothiocyanates, but you’re still going to chew it in the end and those bitter compounds will surely interact anyway. Maybe it’s just me, or maybe the the broccoli rabe in NYC is just extra bitter (everything here is), but blanching is a necessary step to better rapini. My method incorporates large cuts and blanching which reduces the bitterness while also providing the absolute best texture. The plant’s signature flavor will relax in the best way possible, but still be present.
Bring a medium or large pot of water to a boil. Start by cleaning up the broccoli rabe. Trim off the dry ends and any slimy or damaged leaves. Line up a few on your cutting board and slice them into two-inch pieces. Have an ice bath (a bowl of cold water with some ice cubes in it) waiting nearby.
Once the water is boiling, salt it. I usually use about a teaspoon of sea salt. Dunk the broccoli rabe into the boiling water, submerging it with a slotted spoon to make sure it gets thoroughly blanched. Blanch the veg only for 30 or 40 seconds. Use tongs to remove the rapini, immediately submerging them in the ice bath. If you wanted to preserve a bit more bitterness, you could use this technique, which is an even more gentle blanching method.
Your broccoli rabe will be a vibrant, deep green, softened, but nowhere close to mushy, and that severe bitterness will be checked. Sauté your less bitter greens to finish cooking them and imbue them with flavor. I like to use plenty of oil, garlic, crushed chili flakes, and salt. Serve it as a side, pile it on sandwiches, or toss it in a tangle of pasta with lots of pecorino Romano.
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