How and how much to cook green, white, mini asparagus? How many minutes does it take to cook frozen, dry and fresh asparagus?
The cooking process and time are indicated for green, white asparagus. And also time to cook dried and frozen asparagus.
Asparagus is not a very popular product in our latitudes. Although this is not at all fair. Low-calorie, multivitamin, easy to process and prepare - a real “queen of vegetables”.
But since this vegetable is not known to everyone, let us consider in more detail the rules for handling it - how to properly peel and cook varieties of this delicacy.
How to peel green and white asparagus?
There are three types of asparagus, or asparagus as it is also called: green, white and purple. Its use is very diverse: in soups, as a side dish, as a component of gourmet vegetable dishes, etc.
- rinse the sprouts well
- cut or simply break off 1-3 cm of the lower thick part - the spine
- remove the thin film from the asparagus head with a knife
- evaluate the condition of the skin on the pagon itself. If it is soft enough, this means that the vegetable is young and there is no need to remove it, because there are so many vitamins there. But if even in the green variety you come across a skin that is quite dense, it needs to be peeled. An ordinary kitchen knife or vegetable peeler will help you cope with this task.
White asparagus is coarser than green asparagus and its stalks need to be cleaned almost always. As in the previous described option, you need to cut off the rough roots, clean the head, and thoroughly peel the trunk itself. Remove the peel in the correct direction from the middle of the sprout to the bottom until the juicy core appears.
In this process, the main thing is not to be afraid to cut off a lot, because if you do not clean it thoroughly enough, then you will have to re-peel the already cooked sprouts from the rough skin.
How and for how long to cook frozen green and white asparagus?
Green or white asparagus before cooking don't defrost. Long asparagus spears can be broken or cut into small pieces. To prepare, follow these steps:
- put the asparagus in the pan
- pour cold water so that the water covers the shoots a couple of cm
- salt the water
- cover the pan with a lid to help the water boil faster
- after boiling, cook for 5 minutes. and drain in a colander
In addition to the traditional cooking option in a saucepan, you can boil frozen asparagus using the microwave. To do this, place the frozen shoots in a microwave-safe bowl or pan, add water so that the liquid completely covers the stems and leave for 5 minutes. at a power of 800 W.
How and how much to cook fresh green and white asparagus?
There are two main approaches to the process of cooking asparagus in a pan:
- classical
- folk
The classic approach involves boiling this vegetable upright. This is due to the fact that its bottom is coarser, due to which it requires a higher cooking temperature, and the delicate heads can even be cooked by steam when cooking the main shoots.
But for this cooking method you need a tall pan. Finished peeled asparagus sticks need to be tied together in approximately 8-10 pieces. Pour 1 liter of water into the pan, add 1 teaspoon each of salt, sugar and lemon juice.
Next, place the asparagus bunches in boiling water. Cooking time for green asparagus is no more than 5 minutes, white - 7 minutes. Very important don't overcook vegetable. Otherwise, it will become loose and it will be difficult to get the desired result in the finished dish.
When you remove the asparagus, it is advisable to immerse the sprouts in cold water with ice - this way the asparagus will not lose its color and will retain more vitamins and beneficial elements.
Folk way cooking is dictated by the possible lack of a special high pan.
This method is not so correct and perfect for preparing this vegetable, but with the right approach you can also get a good result. If your pan can accommodate the entire length of the stems, then dip the cleaned, prepared pagons into boiling salted water with added sugar and citric acid so that the water completely covers the product.
With the lid tightly closed, cook green and white asparagus for 5 and 7 minutes, respectively. If the diameter of your pan is not large, then you can cut the pagons into several parts.
In this case, both when cooking green and white asparagus, you can take out the top pieces first, which cook many times faster. Boil the lower part until done, which can be easily determined with a knife. Alternatively, you can boil asparagus in steamer.
To do this, place the vegetables in the steamer compartment and add salt. Fill the steamer with water and steam the asparagus at the same rate as in a saucepan.
In a similar way, you can use it to prepare multicooker in double boiler mode. To do this, pour a glass of water into the multicooker, and place asparagus shoots in the steaming compartment, as in the steamer. Green stems require the same amount of time to cook in the slow cooker.
How and for how long to cook green and dry white asparagus?
When preparing dried asparagus, you need to soak it first. To do this you will need:
- 200 g dry green or white asparagus
- 4 cups cold water
Cut the asparagus shoots into approximately 4 cm lengths, cover with cold water in a bowl and leave for 2 hours. Then take a saucepan, pour in about 4 glasses of water, add salt, sugar and, if desired, lemon juice.
Bring water to a boil and place asparagus in it. You need to cook green or white asparagus for 5 minutes. Drain the prepared vegetables in a colander.
However, there is another way to prepare dried asparagus. To do this, pour 4 glasses of water into the water, add salt and sugar, and put dry asparagus shoots into boiling water. You need to cook vegetables in this method for 30 minutes.
How to cook young green asparagus?
Young asparagus, as we have already said, is practically does not require thorough cleaning. It is enough to rinse it thoroughly and just break off the base.
Cooking methods will again depend on whether you have a tall pan for cooking it in an upright position. If you don’t have one, then an ordinary saucepan will do just fine.
Young asparagus is a tasty and juicy product But when cooking green young asparagus, it is important to remember that a very short period of time is needed - up to 3 minutes. Young shoots will not lose their rich green color if, after removing them from hot water, you plunge them into ice water.
How to cook mini asparagus?
Mini-asparagus already by its name indicates its small size compared to traditional shoots. Its stem is thinner and its length is much shorter. The main feature of this type of asparagus is the speed of its preparation - just one and a half minutes of cooking. Although, if you are going to fry it, then there is no need to pre-cook the mini asparagus.
As you understand, you will need very little time to cook asparagus. But with the finished product you can prepare a lot of delicious dishes.
Video: How and how long to cook asparagus?
