Author Topic: How do you pre-cook spinach?  (read 6,918 times)

AI Summary
Restaurants likely pre-cook spinach by briefly boiling or steaming it, as one user noted that it is often kept in a separate container and requires minimal cooking time. Another user shared their method of cooking spinach with a small amount of water and then cooling it quickly to make it easier to shred, which aligns with the texture commonly found in local curry dishes. The consensus suggests that shredded spinach is preferred for dishes like murgh palak and palak paneer.

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Offline Yellow Fingers

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How do you pre-cook spinach?
« on: November 19, 2005, 11:55 AM »
How do you think the restaurants pre-cook the spinach for dishes like murgh palak, palak paneer etc?

Do you think, or know, that any restaurants would use the tinned spinach?

Offline pete

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Re: How do you pre-cook spinach?
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2005, 02:19 PM »
The last time I was in a restaurant kitchen, I noticed spinach kept in a separate container.
At first, I wondered what it was, and there wasn't much of it either.
So I think it's probably just pre boiled on it's own
There would be very little cooking time, to spice it
If it is from a can, then this place used a small one

Offline Dylan

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Re: How do you pre-cook spinach?
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2005, 11:33 AM »
When I do it, I cook it in a tiny bit of water with the pan lid on so it kind of steams. When it's cooked (only takes a minute) I run it under cold water, then wring it out with my hand so it forms a kind of ball. It can then be easily shredded with a knife.

Offline Yellow Fingers

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Re: How do you pre-cook spinach?
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2005, 01:19 PM »
Hi Dylan

Do you shred it rather than puree it because that's the way it is in the curries from your local curry house?

Offline Dylan

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Re: How do you pre-cook spinach?
« Reply #4 on: November 20, 2005, 03:11 PM »
yep - all seems to be shredded around my way