Name a few foods which are best blanched?

Yes, green beans, carrots, okra, turnip and cabbage should always be blanched. On the other hand, blanching is not needed for onions, leeks, tomatoes and sweet peppers. You may have noticed that tomatoes are dipped into hot water for one minute when they need to be peeled but this is not blanching. Another practice you may have notices is to use or add sodium bicarbonate to the blanching water when okra, green peas and some other green vegetables are blanched. Have you wondered why? The chemical raises the pH of the blanching water and prevents the fresh green colour of chlorophyll being changed into pheophytin, which is unattractive brownish-green.