May 13, 2015
Spring is here. In our house that means lots of asparagus.
It seems like a good time to show you my twist on prepping asparagus.
Usually the bottom portion of an asparagus spear is tough and needs to be removed. A common method of determining how much to remove is to bend the spear and allow it to snap. I believe that the standard “bend and snap” method wastes too much asparagus.
I like to put the asparagus on a cutting board and gently bounce a chef’s knife off the spear working up from the bottom. If you do it gently enough you will hit a spot where the knife suddenly goes just a bit deeper into the spear. That’s the spot to cut. Even the sound the knife makes as it moves from the tougher bottom to the more tender portion of the stalk changes. Sometimes the sound is all I need to know that the next bounce will be the place to cut the spear.
I’ve attached a few video clips of this technique. Watch for the place where the knife suddenly goes a little deeper and listen to how the sound changes as the knife travels up the stalk.