Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook! I’m really glad you’re here!
Today, I’ve decided to tackle a controversy that divides more households and families than religion and politics, so brace yourselves! The question I’m going to address is:
Are skinny asparagus better than fat asparagus?
My household much prefers the fat, jumbo, colossal and juicy asparagus over the skinny, feathery-light spears. But…there is room in this big, old world for all asparagus, so let’s all just take a deep cleansing breath and calm down. Communication–we just need more communication.
So let’s get this conversation started by taking a look at the difference between skinny and fat asparagus:
First, let’s start with this: asparagus spears don’t start out skinny and grow fatter the longer they are left in the field–in other words, fat asparagus aren’t just old skinny asparagus. Asparagus plants are a network of underground roots that have a central “head” that produces the spears that shoot out of the ground. Each “head” can produce different sizes of spears–both skinny and fat.
The varietal also matters here–like most other types of crops, there is not just one varietal of asparagus. There are varietals that will produce what’s known as jumbo or “colossal” asparagus (more than 1″ in diameter). These will tend to appear earlier in the season than late because while the head will continue to produce for several months, it will expend more of its energy early in the season to produce those huge spears, and later produce skinnier stalks.
Asparagus plants are annuals and can last for up to 20 years. In general, though, a farmer will get 8-12 productive years out of a plant before they need to plow them under and start fresh. Typically, more mature plants (more than 3-4 years old) will produce larger asparagus spears, while younger plants will produce the skinniest spears.
All asparagus have an outer, slightly fibrous, bright green layer over more tender, light green flesh. The outer layer on a colossal asparagus will be tougher than on a skinny spear and the colossal stem will benefit from being peeled. Peeling them will enable you to eat almost the entire spear, eliminating the need for trimming the end of the spear except for the last 1/2″ or so. Of course, there is waste in the peel, but you can always put it into the compost pile. Also–I usually save those 1/2″ trim ends to use in soup stock. The super-skinny spears don’t need to be peeled–in fact, I’m not even sure you could peel them when they’re so skinny.
When you’re choosing asparagus, first look at the tips of the asparagus–they should be tight and all closed up. If the ends are “frayed” or “rangy”-looking, then you’ve got an older spear, or one that’s been on the shelf a little too long.
Perhaps even more important than a tight head, is to look at the spear itself for any signs of shriveling. Asparagus are vascular and mostly water and a shriveled asparagus spear is an old asparagus spear and you don’t need that in your life. Notice the bottoms of the asparagus in the picture below and how they are getting what look like furrows running the length of the stem? That means they’re drying out–this will change the flavor dramatically, and about the only thing you can do is to remove the shriveled ends and hope for the best. A note–these are a few asparagus that escaped the bag in my crisper drawer and have been languishing for more than a couple of weeks.
I have read and I’ve been told that one should be cutting the bottom 1/2″ of the spear off and putting them upright into a tray of water for storage in the fridge. I have tried this and honestly, I can’t say that I thought it made a lot of difference, other than that I noticed mold grew more quickly on them. Maybe it’s because my household consumes them so quickly (usually within a week) that if I keep them in a bag in the crisper drawer, they generally seem to do just fine.
Bottom line: get the asparagus you prefer and enjoy them responsibly. And by that, I mean: skinny asparagus are going to be better when prepared quickly and gently. They are far more delicate than their fat counterparts and can’t stand up to grilling or even roasting. They will do better with just a quick steam bath or a gentle kiss of heat in a stir-fry pan. The skinny spears will be best suited to a salad or served neat alongside a delicate piece of fish. The jumbo and colossal spears are going to be able to stand up to grilling and roasting, as well as tossed in a stir-fry. They will play well with a hearty steak and would pair well when wrapped in prosciutto or served alongside a nice Manchego. I always peel the lower 2/3 of the jumbo asparagus; by doing so, you’ll be rewarded with an herbal, nutty and sweet tender, but firm flesh. Don’t try to peel the skinny ones–I’ve never tried, but I think they’d break–plus, even if you were able to do it, there wouldn’t be much left.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this primer on asparagus as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing it with you!
Tune in again next week for more recipes and thoughts on the produce of the moment!
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
