Unfortunately, this sub won’t let me post a video for demonstration but it’s literally so easy. All you have to do is bend it to break it and it will naturally break where you’re supposed to only leaving you with what’s edible and discarding the hard bits. Just bend it with your hands and you’ll get a perfect snap every time! No more knifes needed! (B & B = Bend and Break)
by eternalapostle
10 Comments
This is the way.
It does work, but I feel it takes off a bit too much, so I will cut them
This isn’t really true.
“While working on a more complete guide to asparagus several years back, Kenji ran some tests and demonstrated that the bend-and-snap method could produce a break at pretty much any point along the length of the stalk. His results varied wildly depending on how much pressure he applied, even when he held the stalks at the exact same spot every time, a level of scrupulousness that most of us don’t want to bother with. How you flex the stalk can also influence where it breaks, rendering the bend-and-snap trick highly unreliable”
Cut them into 1.5” segments, toss them in some high heat with a touch of oil, salt and pepper. If you want to add some lemon, few will fault you. After approximately 5 minutes, you’re good to go. Leave the last 2” for your compost.
Actually, the bend-and-break works, but you’re leaving money on the table. Those woody ends make killer stock or can be peeled and roasted separately. The real hack is knowing asparagus thickness varies by variety, so thicker spears need peeling, thinner ones snap naturally higher up. You’re just wasting product by discarding everything below the snap point.
The plural of knife is knives
Take off about a half inch off the end and use a vegetable peeler to the bottom 2 inches and you can eat ALL of it.
That’s way too much waste!! Idk how much they are where you live but even on sale they’re still $3/lb here. I’m not paying $6 just to eat a small handful of asparagus.
Isn’t that a wives tale? I just align them along end-of-stalk “feet” and chop it where it looks right. Maybe I waste some softer flesh, maybe a couple of them are slightly tougher than ideal at their new foot, I’ve never had an issue or noticed at all that some are suboptimal
The perfect method is to give up, because no one will ever enjoy asparagus.