Spring, from April to the end of June, is asparagus season . Then we can buy the fine vegetables again at the weekly markets and fresh from the asparagus farm . The vegetables go well with salads, soups and pasta – or with ham and hollandaise sauce. But it’s not only delicious, it’s also very healthy. After all, 100 grams contain just 20 calories. In return, it supplies the body with A, C, E and several B vitamins.
We’ll tell you what you should consider when shopping, preparing and cooking so that your asparagus dishes are a success .
Table of Contents
Quality characteristics when purchasing
- The asparagus has a silky sheen
- No brown spots
- pleasant smell
- Breaks through when bent
- The bars squeak when you rub them together
- No unclean cut or woody dry ends
- The heads are closed
- Not packed in plastic
The correct storage of the asparagus spears
In general, you should always process the vegetables as fresh as possible. But it also keeps in the fridge if you wrap the sticks in a damp cloth beforehand. You can also put the asparagus in the water like cut flowers. Simply fill a tall container halfway with cold water and add the asparagus after trimming the ends a little. Now put the container together with the asparagus in the fridge and keep the vegetables fresh for about two days.
What varieties are there?
There are three varieties in total : white asparagus, green asparagus and violet. White asparagus is particularly mild, it grows underground and is harvested. Green asparagus is harvested above ground. It’s a bit narrower and tastes a bit spicier. The purple variant is stung when its head is already sticking out of the ground. This tastes particularly strong and nutty and has a slight bitter note.
Peel the asparagus properly
White asparagus is always peeled from top to bottom. To do this, simply place the peeler directly under the asparagus head and remove the peel from there. It is best to hold asparagus by the head so that the delicate spears do not break. You can peel a little more generously at the bottom, because the peel is significantly thicker there. Only after peeling should the woody ends (approx. 1-2 cm) be cut off.
With green asparagus , it is usually sufficient if you cut off the woody ends with a sharp knife – the skin of green asparagus is very tender.
The right preparation
After peeling the asparagus and cutting off the ends, you can start cooking . So that the many vitamins are not lost, you cook the asparagus in a pot with just a little water. It is sufficient if the sticks are just covered and slightly cooked.
Tip: Passionate asparagus eaters use an asparagus pot in which only the “feet”, i.e. the asparagus lengths, are cooked and the heads are only gently steamed.
If you cook the asparagus for too long, the vitamins will suffer and it will taste soggy. However, if you leave the asparagus in the boiling water for too short a time and serve it “al dente”, many of us miss the delicate taste.
Conclusion: There is no exact rule of thumb to name the exact minutes of the cooking time. We recommend pricking the end of the asparagus with a fork to see if it’s done.
Steaming and frying as an alternative
Salt not only intensifies the taste but also limits the vitamin-depleting effect of the water. A teaspoon of salt per liter of water is not a problem at all.
Asparagus often contains bitter substances that spoil the taste. A lump of sugar neutralizes the substances and we can really enjoy the vegetables again. With green asparagus you should definitely not do without sugar. The asparagus contains significantly more bitter substances than its white counterpart.
Adding a squeeze of lemon juice to the cooking water will lighten the tips of the asparagus and make them look even more appealing.
