Stop Frying Spinach! This Way Is Much Better
As much as I love spinach, I absolutely hate frying it. You have to wait the whole time for all those enormous leaves to wilt, and in the meantime your entire stovetop is covered with them. That’s why I stopped doing it and now always prepare it in a much easier way.
Maybe I’m making too much of it, and other people don’t have this problem at all when frying fresh spinach. Still, it makes me incredibly grumpy. An amount of spinach for two people has to go into the pan in three or four batches. Each time, you have to wait for the spinach to wilt, but you also have to stir so the top leaves come into contact with the pan.
While stirring, all the spinach falls out of the pan and gray hairs spontaneously appear on my head. Stress!
Blanching
My solution? Blanching. Bring a pan with a layer of water to the boil (about 10 cm is enough) and season with salt. Set out a bowl with a sieve in it and grab a pair of kitchen tongs or a slotted spoon. Lower the spinach into the water by the handful until it wilts. You still have to do this in batches, but in boiling water it goes so much faster. That way, a third of a bag of spinach is reduced to a perfect portion within a few seconds. Scoop out the spinach and let it drain in the sieve.
Ready in under a minute
The advantage of this method is that the spinach wilts as soon as it comes into contact with the water, and each batch is done within a few seconds. You can also remove all the spinach from the pan in time so it doesn’t overcook. That’s almost impossible when frying, because the bottom leaves are always already deteriorating while the top ones are still completely raw. Within a minute, you’ll have enough spinach for four people. Win!
Perfect side dish
Letting it drain in the sieve is absolutely crucial. Spinach is naturally moist, so if you cook it in water as well, it becomes an even bigger mess. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s spinach liquid dripping all over my plate. Goodbye, crispy potatoes or crispy fish sticks. Just let it drain in the sieve for a moment and all your problems are solved.
Optionally season with even more salt and you have the perfect side dish.
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