Blanch

verb

1. To grow or become white

   "His cheek blanched with fear."

2. To take the color out of, and make white; to bleach

   "Age has blanched his hair."

3. To cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water.
4. To whiten, for example the surface of meat, by plunging into boiling water and afterwards into cold, so as to harden the surface and retain the juices
5. To bleach by excluding the light, for example the stalks or leaves of plants, by earthing them up or tying them together