I guess I'm old school too. Blanching is with water. Frying is frying, no matter how many times it is done. 
IC - if flash frozen I can see it being done - we live in a world where everything has to be done last week. Not many places make them homemade - I'm glad I still do it that way. I bought a bag of frozen fries a while back - thought I could save time - but I just did not like the taste - almost as if they had a coating of some sort. Maybe they were flash frozen - who knows? I wonder about half the stuff out there they pawn off on unsuspecting victims (us).
CanMan - I'm with you - blanching is with water - frying is frying - whether shallow or deep frying. But then again - you have to blame the one in charge at a restaurant that is telling employees to "blanch" fries. It's apparent the one in charge doesn't know what they are talking about.
A while back there was a discussion here about cooking terms.
Today they do not know proper terms of how to prepare foods - and so many terms have been "lost" forever. I'm glad I know the terms.
A hundred years from now they may come out with "new"cooking terms - all the ones that are lost now.
CanMan - I'm with you - blanching is with water - frying is frying - whether shallow or deep frying. But then again - you have to blame the one in charge at a restaurant that is telling employees to "blanch" fries. It's apparent the one in charge doesn't know what they are talking about.
A while back there was a discussion here about cooking terms.
Today they do not know proper terms of how to prepare foods - and so many terms have been "lost" forever. I'm glad I know the terms.
A hundred years from now they may come out with "new"cooking terms - all the ones that are lost now.
Mama Mangia wrote:I'm too old school - to me it's still pre-frying. It's like trying to teach an old dog new tricks. As far as pre-frying goes - it makes me wonder if restaurants that do that go by the food safety codes. I wonder if they do refrigerate them of not.
I actually do blanch in water my potato strips, let them cool and dry before frying. Maybe that is what IC means too. It works every bit as well as pre-frying with a lot less fat being absorbed.