Asparagus
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and boil
Tie the asparagus in bundles and cut the root ends evenly.
In a large pot, bring spring water with salt to a boil.
Add the asparagus and boil for 15 minutes or until tender.
Arrange and serve
Arrange the asparagus in a dish with the white ends outward and the points meeting in the center.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Asparagus
- The main vegetable; boiling softens its fibres into a tender texture.
The step that matters
Boiling until tender. Asparagus goes from tender to mushy within a short window. Heat softens its cell walls, and overcooking breaks them down further and dulls the green colour, so check for tenderness near the 15-minute mark.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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