Buzz
One of the things I've loved about owning a house is discovering all kinds of plants—ones I never planted—growing around the yard. One such surprise is an asparagus bed. While it’s not particularly productive, it’s a lovely addition. Three or four stalks pop up at a time, just enough for a bit of fun, though not quite enough for a full meal.
I’ve allowed the stalks to grow and sprout (I believe that's the correct term?) because a few people suggested it. Apparently, if I leave them alone this year, more will grow back next year. I’m hoping that's true, especially since I’ve just discovered my new favorite way to prepare asparagus, thanks to a Portland legend.
James Beard, the renowned chef, food writer, educator, and celebrated Portland native, was famous for his distinctively American approach and his ability to create flavorful dishes. His soy sauce and butter asparagus recipe, adapted for Food52 by Eric Kim, exemplifies that. The asparagus is quickly cooked in a rich mixture of soy sauce and butter, giving it a salty glaze that softens the vegetable's raw, grassy taste.
It’s more of a technique than a formal recipe, one that Kim discovered at the end of Beard’s 1964 memoir, Delights and Prejudices [method in bold]:
When in season, I prepare asparagus either by boiling it briefly until tender but still crisp—with only salt and freshly ground black pepper as seasoning—or
I slice it into paper-thin diagonal pieces and toss them with butter and soy sauce for two or three minutes in a hot skillet, which results in a wonderfully textured dish.
“Paper-thin diagonal slices” is somewhat ambiguous, so I decided to experiment by prepping the asparagus in two different ways to see which one I preferred. I began by doing some simple knife work, cutting about four ounces of stalks on the bias to create thin, but not quite “paper-thin,” slices.
For the second batch of four ounces, I used a vegetable peeler to create truly paper-thin slices, removing the tips first and keeping them intact.
Next, I cooked them in a hot cast iron skillet, following Kim’s ratios for butter and sauce. However, I swapped the soy sauce for fish sauce because I enjoy a slightly funkier flavor in my vegetables. In my opinion, this was a great decision. I also topped the dish with some toasted almonds, as they add a nice appearance and flavor.
Of the two methods, I actually preferred the thicker, knife-cut asparagus slices. The ones I prepared with a vegetable peeler turned out too thin, becoming soft and almost like wet noodles. They also soaked up too much of the sauce, making it a little too salty for my taste.
The thicker slices retained their fresh, crisp texture and absorbed just the right amount of fish sauce, creating a perfectly seasoned, tender-crisp bite of springtime vegetable. I will definitely be making this again (and again, and again).
Fish Sauce and Butter Asparagus (adapted from Eric Kim’s interpretation of “a very good line in Delights and Prejudices by James Beard.”)
Ingredients:
8 ounces of asparagus
2 tablespoons of salted butter
1 tablespoon of fish sauce (or soy sauce for a more traditional flavor)
Optional: Freshly ground pepper and/or toasted almonds
Cut the asparagus on the bias into thin slices, around 1/4 inch thick (or thinner). Heat a skillet over high heat (I used cast iron) and melt the butter. Once the butter begins to brown slightly, add the asparagus and cook for about one minute, stirring once or twice.
Add the fish sauce, stir again, and continue cooking for another minute or so, until the asparagus is tender-crisp (test with a bite). Serve right away, and garnish with freshly ground pepper and/or toasted almonds if desired.
