Welcome back to How I Cook+,
This week we’re tackling one of Spring’s best bits.
The return of asparagus season is met with the same culinary fervor as Summer’s ripe, taught tomatoes and peaches, the mushrooms and squashes of Autumn and Winter citrus and rhubarb. It’s a big fat moment on the culinary calendar, and we’re so back.
The best asparagus dishes are the simple asparagus dishes. With that in mind these recipes all demand very few ingredients and are exceptionally easy to make. I figured I’d pair the asparagus up with one of its best pals, the egg.
Go and dig out a few bundles of asparagus and get to cooking.
Happy cooking,
B x
Full blown asparagus-fetish is about to sweep the nation. Chefs high and low will be waxing lyrical about Mother Nature’s greatest gift, begging you to slice not snap, hurling insults at those who dare to overcook such a prize, all while churning out endless plates of the pretty green spears lathered in hollandaise. Asparagus is back and is centre stage. Well, until tomatoes come back around.
How to Pick Asparagus
So, you’ve wandered into the supermarket or green grocer, and a pile of asparagus is staring back at you. Hundred of spears, bunched up into little bundles. Essentially, they look all the same, but there are some signs you can look for that’ll ensure you’re selecting the best of the season.
You’re looking for spears that are thick and firm, don’t be afraid to give them a little squeeze. As asparagus ages, they lose moisture and become hollow. If the spears feel bouncy or have a little give in them, put them down and walk away! The bottom of super fresh spear will ooze a bit of juice when given a squeeze.
Colour wise, you want to find a bunch that is a deep rich green colour that tapers into white at the base. The tops of the spears should be tightly bunched and super firm, almost rock hard to the touch. If they’re splaying out or easily fall off, walk away.
Ticked those boxes? Head to the checkout.
How to Prepare & Cook Asparagus
Step one on the road to asparagus is removing the woody end bit. You really do want to slice them rather than snapping, this massively reduces the amount of waste. Use your fingers to feel where the rock hard end begins to yield into the green, juicy part of the spear. Use a sharp knife to nip off the very hard root.
An optional but nice step is to peel off the little purple barbs that run up the spear. When cooked, they can be quite papery to eat and sometimes trap little bits of dirt as the asparagus grows up and out of the ground. Just use the tip of a knife to peel them away. It’s not completely essential, but a nice touch.
You’ll notice on the Oeuf Mayonnaise recipe I’ve trimmed/cleaned the base of the each spear. This is a very cheffy way to prepare the spears, and is 100% unnecessary, but oh boy does it looks pretty. Give it a go if you want to be fancy. Just score a ring around the bottom 2-3cm of the spear and then use a sharp paring knife or peeler to remove just the very outer layer of skin. It can be a bti fiddly, and you don’t want to go too deep. Give it a shot.
Now when it comes to cooking, you have a few options. The beautiful thing about new season asparagus is just how juicy it is when cooked perfectly. In my book, we want to lean into this, and try and keep everything super crunchy and bursting with that delicious juice. You can 100% eat asparagus raw, thinly sliced in a salad or over burrata with olive oil and lots of lemon juice, but juuust cooked spears are my favourite. I like to blanch my asparagus very quickly in very salty water, we’re talking 1-2 minutes absolute maximum. You can also cook them in a butter emulsion for a glossy, rich finish or quickly stir fry. Don’t roast them, they go all floppy and naff. Whatever you do, do not overcook your asparagus, and remember to celebrate the juicy texture.
A Bistro Classic
Oeuf Mayonnaise is a wholly working class dish, you can get it for pennies all over Paris in Bouillons. A real treat when done properly, it’s having its moment and has been elevated by the likes of Cafe Deco into a modern day, very chic plate of food. It’s a true classic, a delicious light lunch when served with a few green leaves tossed with vinaigrette or a great starter alongside some warm baguette with crunchy large-flake salted butter. It’s very, very nice with a little pile of blanched, warm asparagus, too! I top mine with salty anchovies and a good crack of black pepper. It might seem old fashioned, but this is one of the great plates of French food that you should have in your repertoire.
A Diner-Style Omelette
My days as a new yorker taught me a few things, how to work 6 days a week, how to work very hard those 6 days and how to order a proper diner omelette. The best way to approach this is to think of the omelette and filling as two different things that are brought together right at the last minute. When you watch a short order cook churning these out, you’ll see them spoon blends of filling in, cooked ahead of time, just to reheat through, this is not only efficient, but really smart. Spooning a hot filling into an omelette will help you cook the thing evenly. Add a handful of cold cheese and vegetables into the centre of an omelette, the egg on the outside is going to be very overcooked by the time the filling is warm and the cheese is gooey and melted. Work smart, not hard.
We’re shaving the asparagus thin and cooking it really fast. It wants to still be very crunchy when it’s piled into the omelette.
Pork Belly Slices
3 delicious things on a plate…
Sliced pork belly is really easy to pick up from just about any supermarket and you can cook it much quicker than the whole piece. There’s not usually skin left on these slices, so you don’t need to sweat about the crackling, just focus on tender, sticky, soy glazed slices of perfect pig.
We’re stir frying the asparagus here for just 1 minute, keeping the stems super juicy and giving some welcome colour to the exterior. Served with a fried egg? Cannot miss.
Asparagus & Oeuf Mayonnaise