Steaming Asparagus

Steaming asparagus is really easy and steamed asparagus is one of the healthiest and tastiest ways to eat our favourite vegetable. You do not need a fancy asparagus steamer, although an open fan steamer is really useful. Fan steamers are fantastic little gadgets for a whole range of vegetables such as carrots, brocoli etc. They do not immerse the vegetables in the water so more of the goodness is retained in the vegetable, they cost very little (under £5 in our local supermarket) and are a really well worthwhile investment.

 

Rinse and prepare the asparagus as usual, depending on how hungry you and your guests are determines how many spears you need to cook. – I like to work on the basis of three to six spears per person.

Place approximately ¾ inch of water (2.0 cm) in the saucepan, place the open fan steamer in the bottom of the saucepan and and lay the stalks on the fan steamer then season with salt to taste and put the lid on the saucepan.

Although we talk about a saucepan here the best thing to do with asparagus is put the fan steamer in the widest pan you have that has a good fitting lid so that steam builds up. This enables the spears to lie flat. If you have a good lid for a frying pan you could use that.

Steam for approximately 5 minutes, whilst you are steaming don’t forget to occasionally check that that the steaming process is not too vigorous, it is very likely that you will need to turn the heat down, because it is surprising how little energy you need to steam vegetables when the lid of the saucepan is on. If you can turn the heat down a little, that is great – it all goes to help reduce your fuel bills (and save the planet)!

After approximately 5 minutes check that the spears have been cooked to taste, probably the best way is to use a fork to test that they are tender.

Serve up the spears and add a little butter to taste. I find tongs are useful for lifting the asparagus out and onto the plate.

You can also buy electric steamers which can be used to steam all sorts of food. These give great results with asparagus and if you take a look at our page on how to microwave asparagus you will find another means of producing beautifully steamed asparagus.

As a footnote, it is worth mentioning that if you are really keen on steaming asparagus then you can invest in a special asparagus steamer the idea with these steamers is that they are tall and narrow and hold the asparagus upright so that steam can work its way up through the thicker ends of the stalks – it could be a great Christmas or birthday present that friends and family could put on their present list.

Now you know how to steam asparagus on the hob you could try a steamed asparagus recipe of Asparagus and Hollandaise sauce....

 Try these ways to Cook or Store Asparagus

Microwave

Grill

Roast

Steam

Saute

Blanch

Freeze

Dry

Pickle

Buy / Prepare

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