Springtime in Hunan

There are countless ways of making this delightful Hunanese dish called Black Bean Asparagus, but the following is the recipe I like best. 

First, the flavor of the vegetable is not drowned in seasonings, but rather is simply propped up by them.

Second, very little oil is used. The water on the stalks will provide plenty of steam, but you can always pour in some rice wine if the asparagus threatens to burn before surrendering its rawness.

And third, the flavor of the dish can be varied either by the way you cut the asparagus or what aromatics you choose. Both fresh ginger and garlic are perfect here, and you can even use both, if you like, or add some fresh chili peppers or whatever suits your mood and your meal.

Asparagus confetti

I recently served this dish with the thinnest possible stalks, and my guests became almost rapturous over their fresh, grassy flavor. And then last night I tried something different, using a vegetable peeler to shred them, and both their taste and texture was remarkably different. (Did I mention that I love asparagus?)

When shopping for this vegetable, first look at the tips, which should be tight and not in the least bruised. Decay shows up first there. Purplish tips are the best, if you can find them. The cut ends should be plump with no withering, as that means they are drying out and you’ll have to waste lots of the stems before you find the tender parts.

Store these in the fridge with the cut ends in water with a plastic bag over the top. Or even better, use them up as soon as you get home while they still smell of spring rains and warm earth.

Keys to personal happiness

Black bean asparagus 
Dòuchĭ chǎo lúsŭn  豆豉炒蘆筍

Hunan
Serves 4 

1 bunch fresh green asparagus, either thick or thin

2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger or coarsely chopped garlic

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fermented black beans

A splash of rice wine, optional

1. Rinse the asparagus; snap off and discard the tough ends. If the asparagus is thinner than a chopstick, simply cut each shoot into 2-inch lengths. If the asparagus is fat, you may roll cut it, slice it on a sharp diagonal, or use a vegetable peeler to shred it into confetti (see Tips and second photo).

2. Heat an empty wok over high heat until it is hot and then pour in the oil. Immediately add the ginger or garlic, as well as the chopped beans. Stir fry these for about a minute, or until the ginger or garlic just begins to brown. Scoot these up the side of the wok and toss in all of the asparagus. Stir-fry the vegetables until they are barely tender, and then toss them with the aromatics. (If the asparagus is very thick, splash in some wine to speed up the cooking.) Taste and adjust seasoning.

Tips

If you are going for thin stalks, try to get the really, really slender ones that appear in early spring. They smell like a new-mown lawn and are very tender.

Make them the same size

When using thick asparagus, the secret to making them very tender is to maximize the cooking surface of each stalk by cutting them on deep angles. It doesn’t matter whether they are roll cut or simply sliced on deep diagonals, as the results will be the same.

Another (admittedly non-Chinese) option is to use a vegetable peeler to shred them into very thin confetti. This gives the asparagus a completely different texture and a milder flavor.

You can ramp up the seasonings for this if you are serving the asparagus alongside something relatively bland; in that case, use 3 tablespoons of both the ginger/garlic and black beans.

Asparagus with seasoned rice noodles

If you are like me and find most attempts to coat hard vegetables (like asparagus and green beans) with flavor just a bit more of a bother than seems right, let me share a new way to enjoy them.

Up to now, the only way I've really enjoyed Chinese style green beans is when I've used the Sichuanese method called "dry frying," which really means that the beans have to be deep fried before being tossed in a sauce. 

Asparagus, while admittedly a newcomer to Chinese cuisine, also seems stubbornly resistant to any flavorings that aren't stuck on to the stems with cornstarch or other thickeners. Even so, these veggies --especially when cooked in restaurants -- often teeter between an unwelcome rawness and mushy oblivion.

An early spring crop

That is why a novel idea from Shanghai grabbed my attention.

Here, the asparagus is first quickly steam-fried so that it is barely done, keeping the lovely lengths a sparkling green and cooking them to the perfect degree of doneness. Once they are ready, everything else is tossed in, and all of the flavors gang up on the rice noodles, which turn a lovely shade of mahogany.

The brilliant thing about this is the way that rice noodles readily absorb all of the seasonings and then drape themselves around and among the veggies so that each bite is a spectrum of flavors and textures.

This is another one of those super easy recipes that rely on a clever bit of know-how (in this case, using the rice noodles to transport the savory sauce) rather than lots of time and preparation.

Crunchy yet soothing

You can use any other green vegetable here that is not leafy, like snow peas, those green beans, and so on; whatever is in season and appeals to you. All of the prep is easily done ahead of time, and if you are serving these at a dinner party, you could even cook the veggies earlier in the day so that all you have to do is toss them with the rice noodles and sauce. 

Who says Chinese food has to be hard?

Asparagus with seasoned rice noodles 
Lusun chao mifen 蘆筍炒米粉  
Shanghai
Serves 4 to 6 as part of a multicourse meal

6 to 8 ounces wide or thin dry rice noodles (see Tips)
1 pound very fresh asparagus (see Tips)
Filtered water as needed

Trap the steam with a small lid

1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons roasted sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1½ tablespoons sweet wheat paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
1¼ cups filtered water
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

1. Place the rice noodles in a medium work bowl and cover with cool tap water; allow them to soak for about 30 minutes until they are white and soft, and then drain. Wash and trim the asparagus, removing and discarding the tough ends. Cut the stalks into 2-inch lengths. 

Taiwanese rice noodles

2. Put the asparagus in a wok along with a tablespoon or so of water, the oil, and salt. Bring the wok to a boil and place a small lid on top of the veggies to trap some of the steam and keep them more or less submerged. Open the lid now and then to toss the asparagus. (The asparagus and noodles can be prepared ahead of time up to this point.)

3. When the asparagus is a bright green and has just a hint of rawness in the center, add the sesame oil, garlic, sweet wheat paste, sugar, rice wine, 1¼ cups water, and the softened rice noodles. Bring the wok to a boil over high heat and toss the veggies with the noodles and the sauce for only about 2 minutes to allow the noodles to soak up the sauce. Plate the dish and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Serve hot.

Tips

Select asparagus that have tight, purplish heads with no signs of decay or dryness. The stems should be taut and juicy, while the ends of the stems should be white where they were cut. All of these tell you that the asparagus is fresh.

Softened rice noodles

Store asparagus in the fridge, preferably with the cut ends in a bit of water and the tops covered with a plastic bag, since these actually are just very dignified fern fronds. Asparagus doesn't keep well for more than a day or two, so use it up as soon as you can.

Break off the ends with your fingers, rather than cutting off the ends, as this allows you to keep only the tender parts of the stalks.

Rice noodles from the town of Puli (Poolee) in Taiwan are superb. Green bean noodles (fentiao) are equally good in this dish; as with the rice noodles, you can use wide or thick ones, and they too require a soaking in cool water to ready them for this dish.