Asparagus is a healthy and tasty vegetable crop. It is widely used in cooking for the preparation of various hot and cold snacks. It is an excellent product for diet food. Asparagus is rich in valuable substances and has the ability to remove harmful excess from the body.
Asparagus - asparagus
There are three known types of asparagus used for cooking: green, purple, and white. The most common is the white form. It is widely used in the preparation of salads and hot dishes. The popularity of this species is due to the fact that green asparagus produces crops all year round.
The white variety is no less tasty, but due to its seasonal ripening it has a higher price. Purple asparagus is the least used. It has a bitter taste and loses color during heat treatment.
Only young tender shoots are used for food, which can be eaten in absolutely any form. When preparing dishes from this culture, it is necessary to remove the tough tissue from the lower part of the stem, since it has an unpleasant structure that is hard to eat.
The upper part of the shoot (cone) has more delicate fibers, this should be taken into account when heat-treating the vegetable. Usually the top is cut off and added to the boiled (grilled) product last.
Asparagus has a number of beneficial and nutritious properties, such as:
- cellulose;
- vitamins (E, B1, B2, A, PP);
- minerals;
- organic acids;
- carbohydrates;
- potassium salts;
- proteins and much more.
Asparagus contains a huge percentage of water, due to which this plant has a minimum calorie content. Eating asparagus has clear benefits in case of improper metabolism. This vegetable has the ability to remove harmful elements from the body, replacing them with useful ones.
How to choose and store asparagus
When buying shoots, remember that the quality of the vegetable is in no way affected by the thickness or length of the asparagus. The prepared dishes will turn out to be tender and tasty only from young shoots that have an even color, strong and elastic with a dense crown. Pay special attention to the asparagus cut, it should not be dried out, and the vegetable arrows themselves should not be flabby or sluggish.
Shoots should be consumed immediately after purchase or within 24 hours. You can extend the freshness of a vegetable by placing it in a container of water, like flowers in a vase. Before that, you should update the cut on the shoot and fill it with water only a couple of centimeters. Next, you need to cover the plant with a plastic bag and place it in the refrigerator along with a container for water. In this form, asparagus can retain its properties for several more days, but not more than a week.
Before use, it is necessary to cut off the part of the shoot that was immersed in water, and then use the vegetable at your discretion. After such storage, it is advisable not to eat asparagus raw, but to steam it or in another thermal way.
