Introduction: In the food industry, if you want to ask about the noble white ingredients, perhaps your answer is the white truffle with the reputation of "white diamond". In the autumn and winter of October and December every year, chefs in Europe and even the world try to design delicious food with this fragrant and unique ingredient. In fact, in addition to white truffle, there is another white ingredient that also makes chefs boil, that is, white asparagus. White asparagus, known as "The Royal Vegetable", also has the titles of "Platinum Vegetable", "Edible Ivory", "Vegetable Queen", etc. From April to June is the annual white asparagus season. Only in the white asparagus season can you enjoy such a rare thing. The white jade is as fresh and sweet as jade, and has been transformed into a delicious dish with the ingenuity of chefs. Nowadays, not only in Europe, but also in China, white asparagus is on the table. (Source: TimeOut Shanghai)
The battle between green and white asparagus
It is also asparagus. Green asparagus is a common vegetable in western food. It can be eaten all the year round, and the price is also people friendly. Compared with green asparagus, white asparagus is mysterious and noble. The price is several times higher than green asparagus, more like "the aristocrat in vegetables". What makes white asparagus so noble? The reason is that scarcity is related to the growth environment, cultivation method and taste characteristics of white asparagus.
White asparagus It is said that the planting cost of white asparagus is very high. The white asparagus can only be harvested from April to June every year. The white asparagus must be allowed to sleep in the soil in other times to ensure high-quality production in the next year. And unlike green asparagus, the whole cultivation process is "dark". The whole plant grows underground, and will turn green and purple as long as it grows slightly above the ground, Therefore, the white asparagus tip must be constantly covered with soil to keep it growing in an environment that is free from light. Even picking will be conducted in a dark environment. A friend half jokingly said that the white asparagus was very like Vampire. In recent years, vampire themed movies and TV works have been hyped up, and the aristocratic temperament between the two is somewhat similar.
After checking with restaurant chefs and industry insiders, it is not such an exaggeration. White asparagus is not invisible at all. It really needs to be covered with soil during cultivation, which is to prevent photosynthesis from producing chlorophyll. France, Germany, Spain and other European countries are the main producers of white asparagus. It is said that Germany Black Forest, Italy Veneto and southern France are rich in high-quality white asparagus, and the ones with thick, fat, straight, sweet, tender and rich aroma are the best. More than a decade ago, with the spread of food culture from the west to the east, white asparagus began to take root in China. Now it is planted in Yunnan, Fujian, Zhejiang and Shandong. It is reported that the white asparagus planted in Shandong is of high quality. This is because Shandong is the alluvial soil of the Yellow River, which is fertile and delicate. In Shandong Province, the white asparagus of Shan County is of the best quality. This is because the soil of Shan County is sandy loess, fertile and loose, without small stones or other sundries. The white asparagus produced is white, straight, tender, coarse, and smooth, The taste is sweet and slightly bitter. The diameter of white asparagus is thin before the Qingming Festival, and it grows vigorously with the increase of temperature after the festival. The diameter will be more than 1.5cm, and the taste will be better at this time.
In terms of nutritional value, is white asparagus slightly better? Let's take a look at asparagus itself. Asparagus belongs to Liliaceae, also known as Asparagus officinalis and Asparagus lobata. It is a perennial herb with special business value, low sugar, low fat, high cellulose, high vitamin, rich in protein, and the amino acid composition of protein is appropriate. It has a variety of essential elements and trace elements for human body, which can prevent cardiovascular disease It can prevent cancer, fight cancer and improve immunity.
Taste buds of white asparagus Kimberly Ashton (Xia Wanting), a famous health and wellness coach active in the health and media circles, said in an interview that green asparagus has chlorophyll that white asparagus does not have. Chlorophyll comes from the energy and nutrition of sunlight. Green asparagus is rich in potassium, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B, folic acid, β - carotene, and does not contain fat and cholesterol. At the same time, its sodium content is very low; White asparagus contains less vitamin C and some nutrients, such as dietary fiber, protein and carbohydrates. She believes that white asparagus is produced less because of the difficulty in growth and cultivation, and the relative scarcity is the incentive for high prices. Therefore, white asparagus is a delicate food material, while green asparagus is widely used in cooking.
Taste buds of white asparagus
Although there are different opinions about the value of white asparagus, it does not affect the fans' love for it. Chefs all over the world are eager to try every year in the white asparagus season to create various delicacies around this seasonal ingredient, so that customers can follow the healthy drinking and eating principle of "not eating from time to time" and go to a taste buds appointment in the best spring and summer time.
This season, the lobby restaurant of Park Hyatt Shanghai Hotel has specially designed a full set of Special Menus. Executive Chef Daniel Leibssle interprets 12 rare dishes of white asparagus, ranging from light and refreshing appetizers to rich and mellow Risotto, to the ingenious combination of white asparagus and sea and land ingredients. If you are a super fan of white asparagus, you can taste the whole set of asparagus slowly. If you just want to "enjoy yourself", then I recommend you 3 good choices.
White asparagus dishes First, white asparagus salad. Because white asparagus has a refreshing and sweet taste, you can try to match it with salty and delicious foods, such as ham, smoked salmon, etc. This salad is matched with hot spring eggs, Italian ham, pine nut mayonnaise, watercress, soft and smooth hot spring eggs and light and indifferent white asparagus, which complement each other, With Speck ham from northern Italy, the salty and fresh taste brings a strong contrast to taste buds. The mayonnaise is a little salty and a little sour, and pine nuts create a small pop taste.
The white asparagus Risotto interprets the combination of white asparagus and seafood. The sweet and fresh white asparagus echoes the fresh, salty and fresh Japanese scallops. The thick and mellow Risotto adds a little lemon juice to awaken the taste. The most special thing is the Spanish Chorizo sausage. After slicing, it is dried at 70-80 ℃ for 5 or 6 hours to become crispy, salty, hot and crisp, The foam on the surface of Italian rice is also made by boiling the sausage with onion, garlic, butter and chicken soup, and then sprinkled with chili powder to provide multi-level taste.
White asparagus dishes Finally, we recommend a charcoal grilled salmon with white asparagus, Coppa ham, pasta and burnt butter. This is one of the most popular dishes in the lobby restaurant of Park Hyatt Shanghai Hotel. It was created by former chef Gerhard Passrugger, similar to the Italian lasagna Coppa ham and Parmesan cheese combine to create a thick layered delicacy, which echoes the crisp and sweet white asparagus with pure Norwegian salmon. Although the best way to eat white asparagus is to only blanch the original flavor of water, it is a wonderful experience like music with a sense of rhythm as it alternates with the taste of different priorities.
White asparagus dishes Wu Yezhan, executive chef of the Waitan Wonderful Food Club, shared the cooking method that can give full play to the fresh sweetness of white asparagus. "According to the size of white asparagus, it can be boiled for 2-3 minutes. After it is half cooked, it is put into cold water to soak it until it cools down and then put it into the cold storage room. When it is necessary to serve dishes, it is necessary to put a little salt into the original soup and boil it for 2 minutes on medium fire and 1 minute on boiling fire.", It is said that it is sweeter to use the original soup for boiling. Two methods are recommended. One is to order white asparagus with clear butter or Dutch sauce or homemade oil to enjoy the purity of seasonal ingredients. Of course, you can also choose side dishes. Smoked salmon is recommended; Second, charcoal roasted Australian Dumas and Beef Eyes (MBS Grade 7) with white asparagus, oil sealed black garlic, morel mushroom, red wine juice, Hawaiian volcano black sea salt, but the beautiful and even oil of horses and cattle brings a soft taste. Needless to say, white asparagus is crisp and refreshing, rich juice permeates sweet sweet, oil sealed black garlic and morel mushroom give a distinct taste bud experience, which is the finishing touch. In addition, you can also choose the combination of oil sealed duck legs, Spanish Iberian black pork chops, or fried Icelandic halibut and white asparagus.
In addition, the Scene Western Restaurant of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Pudong, Shanghai and the very fashionable restaurants of the Maoyue Hotel on the Bund in Shanghai also supply seasonal white asparagus, such as the Scene's white asparagus salad with black truffle, Pecorino cheese, salmon with white asparagus, dry onion, fennel, and the very fashionable restaurant's white asparagus cream soup with Italian king crab dumplings Australian veal fillet with white asparagus and morel cream sauce.
White asparagus dishes Ample food and clothing by working with our own hands.
In addition to experiencing the 18 skills of chefs in western restaurants, you can also choose to cook white asparagus at home, which is more casual and warm. White asparagus is not as easy to buy in the vegetable market as green asparagus. Go to import supermarkets and fresh food e-commerce websites, and you will find that this "vegetable aristocrat" is around you. On the famous website of fresh food, Futian.com（ http://www.fieldschina.com/ ）You can find white asparagus. There are two different types. One is tender white asparagus, which costs 50 yuan per 300g, and the other is ordinary white asparagus, which costs 40 yuan per 300g. You can choose and buy them according to your needs. In addition, friends who want to go to the city 'super supermarket can also find white asparagus.
Cooked white asparagus How to cook white asparagus so as not to be wasteful and more delicious?
For this reason, we specially interviewed Zhang Qianmin, the chief chef of the life art meeting of the city's super supermarket. She shared two methods: first, boil the milk with fresh milk, heat the milk to about 70 degrees, put white asparagus into it, and cook it in low heat for 30 minutes; Second, boil with clear water. First, boil the water to about 70-80 degrees. Add white asparagus and simmer for 30 minutes. The white asparagus cooked in both ways are fished out, sprinkled with some sea salt to taste and eaten directly. If you have super virgin olive oil of high quality at home, you can also pour some on it. Then, don't throw away the remaining milk or soup of boiled white asparagus, or it will be a pity. The fresh milk white asparagus soup can be used to boil clam soup or mushroom soup, and the water boiled white asparagus can be used as the bottom of any vegetable soup to increase the sweet taste. It should be noted that white asparagus needs to be peeled before cooking.
Daniel Leibssle, Executive Chef of Park Hyatt Shanghai, also suggested that white asparagus should be cooked in a simple way, with clear water. Just add a little salt and butter in the clear water, and try to retain and taste the original flavor of white asparagus.
Well, if you want to try the taste of white asparagus, you should grasp the tail at the turn of spring and summer. If you think the special menu of a western restaurant is too expensive, you can buy it and cook it yourself. The difficulty level of cooking is zero.
