Paper-Thin Asparagus With Butter & Soy Sauce Recipe on Food52 (2024)

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Paper-Thin Asparagus With Butter & Soy Sauce Recipe on Food52? ›

Heat a skillet over high heat and melt the butter. Add the asparagus, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 1 minute. Add the soy sauce and cook for another minute or so, until the butter and soy sauce bubble up into a sticky glaze. Serve with white rice.

Asparagus is great quickly stir-fried or sautéed over high heat. You could sauté spears in butter or olive oil with delicious results, but throwing some chopped herbs or sliced chiles into the pan adds wonderful flavor. Both of these methods produce juicy asparagus that retains its crunch.

Remove woody ends: We recommend trimming off the woody ends because they're difficult to chew and result in stringy roasted asparagus. Cook at a high temperature: A higher temperature is what produces the lovely grilled flavor and al dente texture. We prefer 450 F / 232 C.

The asparagus makes a gorgeous side dish to serve with fish, chicken, pork, or really any protein you like.

For maximum health benefits, mix up your meal routine and experiment with both cooked and raw preparation styles. Try adding shredded, raw asparagus to pasta dishes and salads. Alternatively, enjoy the spears lightly steamed or sautéed in a frittata, or as a stand-alone side dish.

One thing you definitely don't want to do is wash asparagus before storing it—the added moisture will cause the spears to get slimy. When you're ready to cook, just give them a quick rinse under cool running water and pat them dry with a kitchen towel, as Pradhan recommends.

Boiling green vegetables in a small amount of water means bathing them in a virtual soup of color destroyers. Add something alkaline, such as baking soda, and the chemical reactions are altered so the chlorophyll turns bright green. Unfortunately, alkalinity also speeds up the breakdown of plant tissues.

Shock the boiled asparagus in an ice bath.

The ice bath method stops the vegetables from cooking more, and keeps the beautiful, vibrant green color. Drain the blanched asparagus.

It is not necessary to trim asparagus. On some spears, especially fresh, pencil-thin stalks, the woody ends may tenderize once cooked. But on larger stalks, the ends of the asparagus are often woody and dense—Which makes them difficult to chew, no matter how soft the asparagus is after cooking.

Why are my asparagus spears so thin? ›

If you've not seen ferns before, your problem may be due to overharvesting. Even with established plants, you shouldn't harvest asparagus for more than eight weeks. Your plants will tell you when it's time to stop by producing thin asparagus stalks no thicker than a pencil.

For asparagus, a standard serving size is six medium spears, a 1/2 cup of pieces, or just over three ounces cooked. For only 20 calories, you get a lot of nutrients!

To reap the greatest health benefits, consider incorporating both cooked and raw asparagus into your diet. That said, from a nutritional standpoint, you can't go wrong with either option.

I trim the ends and then rinse the stalks and let them sit in cold water for five minutes. It hydrates the asparagus, and they cook more quickly, for they are already wet with some moisture within them. Do not soak them for thirty minutes, you are not trying to get them soggy.

Cut the asparagus into pieces of two inches, approximately, and sauté them for four to six minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper. All these alternatives are quick and delicious. You should keep in mind, however, that steaming is usually the cooking process that preserves more nutrients of a vegetable.