Recipe Poached Rhubarb - EG

WHAT IS POACHED RHUBARB?
Poached rhubarb is rhubarb that has been cooked until just soft and tender using the poaching method.

It's such a fantastic skill to learn because it gives you perfectly cooked rhubarb every time, without losing its shape or too much of its color.

Poaching rhubarb also produces a delicious pink rhubarb-flavored syrup as a by-product. More suggestions on how to use this below.

HOW TO POACH RHUBARB?
Poaching simply means to cook something by submerging the food in a liquid. This liquid can be water, milk, stock, or wine. In this case, it's a simple syrup made from sugar and water (the sugar is needed to combat the rhubarb's acidity).

You might be wondering how this differs from boiling or simmering. You'll see in the recipe below that we bring the poaching liquid to a boil, add the rhubarb, and then immediately remove it from the heat (rather than letting the liquid continue to boil).

This means that the rhubarb cooks in the residual heat of the liquid, which is much lower than if the poaching liquid were to continue simmering. It's this slow, gentle cooking of the rhubarb that keeps its shape and, to some extent, its color.

HOW CAN I ENSURE MY RHUBARB STAYS PINK?
Not all rhubarb is pink. Only the "forced" variety has a bright pink hue. Try to buy the brightest forced rhubarb possible, as this will give you a better starting point.

Unfortunately, rhubarb will naturally lose some of its color during the cooking process. This, in turn, colors the simple syrup pink.

A pro tip is to add just a touch of grenadine to the poaching liquid, as this will help color the rhubarb pink. This is a technique used in professional kitchens, so why not use it in yours?

Try not to be too heavy-handed with the grenadine—no more than a tablespoon is enough. Any more than that, and it will overpower the delicate flavor of the rhubarb. We only want to use grenadine for color, not flavor.