I’ve eaten Fried Asparagus several times in the past year as an appetizer. I was surprised when I saw a recipe in a hundred-year-old church cookbook for Fried Asparagus. It apparently has been around for a long time.
The crisp lightly-browned breading on the asparagus creates an enchanting appetizer or side dish.
The original recipe says, “This is nice and easy to prepare.” I concur. This is a fun and easy recipe.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Fried Asparagus
1 pound asparagus
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
shortening or oil
Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Meanwhile wash and trim the asparagus spears, then blanch them by adding to the boiling water. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until al dente. Remove the asparagus from the water and immediately put the spears in ice water to stop the cooking.
Prepare a batter by combining the flour, salt, eggs, and milk in a mixing bowl. Beat until combined. Roll the blanched asparagus in the breading batter.
Heat 1/2 inch of shortening or oil in a large frying pan. Carefully place the breaded asparagus spears in the pan in a single layer. Depending upon pan size, the spears may need to be cooked in several batches. Fry for about a minute or until the bottom side of the asparagus is lightly browned, then gently turn and fry until the other side is browned. Remove from pan and drain the asparagus on paper towels. Serve immediately.
And, here is the original recipe:
The original recipe is lacking in details. It tells the cook to dip the asparagus in batter, but fails to tell them how to prepare the batter. Apparently the recipe author assumed that every cook already knew how to prepare batter. Since I didn’t know how off the top of my head, I decided to adapt an old recipe that I’d previously used to make fritters to make a batter that would work with the asparagus.
A Hundred Years Ago 
Oh yum. It would almost be good for my vegan daughter if it didn’t call for milk. But I’m forwarding it to my gourmet cook of a son.
I think that your son will like this recipe. It’s very nice.
Your daughter could substitute a mixture of sparkling water and beer for the batter. It’s very light and you can’t taste the beer, so it wouldn’t drown the subtle taste of the asparagus (I understand vegan beer is readily available).
Thanks for the suggestion. She liked the idea.
Mmmmmm this sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing this simple but fabulous recipie. I can’t wait to try making it.
You’ll like it. It’s a wonderful recipe.
Yummmmm! I love asparagus. I eat it as often as I can find it (well, find some that looks good and fresh).
I like it, too. Really nice asparagus is always a spring treat.
I looks good. I don’t know that I would ever take the time to do all that. I just broil it lightly, salt and eat.
mmm. . . I like broiled asparagus, too.
It is interesting that old recipes assume that the cook knows certain processes.
Often old recipes assume that cooks have a high level of baseline knowledge, but I thought that this recipe expected cooks to be particularly well versed. I don’t know about you, but I don’t just have batter recipes memorized in my head. 🙂
No I don’t. But maybe my mother and grandmother could have just whipped one up!
Cooks were so knowledgeable and skilled back then. 🙂
This looks delicious — no question about that. And I have a pound of fresh asparagus from the farmers’ market, so it could be done, lickety-split. But I think I’ll tuck this in the recipe file for a time when I have company, and stick with plain old asparagus for myself. This would make a great appetizer for a group, though — it’s different, and no doubt quite tasty.
It’s excellent. Your guests would like it. You’re so lucky to already have asparagus at the farmers’ market. I’m still forced to use supermarket asparagus, and can hardly wait for the really fresh stuff to start appearing at my local farmers’ market.
Sounds so good! I wonder how often cooks used batter in those days!
It seems strange, but I’m guessing that batter was used much more frequently then than now. Fried foods were more popular a hundred years ago – and I’ve seen numerous old recipes for various kinds of fritters (corn, apple, pear, oyster, etc.) which would have used batters.
I should have lived then haha. Too many guilt trips today!
Love the taste of the crisp, and the nutrition of the asparagus!
It is a nice combination. Hopefully the nutrition of the asparagus will compensate for the frying. 🙂
I love asparagus…great recipe
Thanks! It’s nice to hear that you liked it.
Never heard of it fried. Sounds delicious!
It is very tasty.
This reminded me of a tempura recipe I use to like, only it was just about any veggie fried up [carrot strips, string beans, etc] and not previously blanched – Oh so sweet!! Thanks for reminding me, Sheryl.
I’m glad this post reminded you of the tempura recipe. Now that you mention it, you’re absolutely right – this is similar to some tempura recipes.
I’m surprised, too, that asparagus was fried 100 years ago! Nothing new under the sun, I guess!
This recipe seems surprisingly modern – though I suppose the recipe title might be something other than Fried Asparagus if it was a modern one.
I’m guessing that when a vegetable was in season back then, you ate a lot of it…so finding various ways to prepare it was important. Bring on asparagus season!!
You’re absolutely right. Your comment reminded me of when I was a child growing up on a farm that we ate strawberries at almost every meal during strawberry season, and got very tired of them – but then eagerly anticipated them ripening the next year. Similarly each person ate multiple ears of fresh corn the first time it was served each season- and then fewer and fewer ears with each subsequent meal where it was served. Now with most foods available year-round I don’t think that we have the same sense of anticipation of seasonal foods (or the readiness to move on to the next food as the season begins to wind down)
Aren’t all vegetables better fried? We ate breaded and fried zucchini and ripe tomatoes from the garden.
You may be right – fried zucchini is delicious. I don’t think that I’ve ever had fried tomatoes. I may have to try them this year. 🙂
I tend to fry as little as possible but this may warrant taking out the frying pan! ~Elle
I also tend to think twice before frying something – though this did turn out wonderfully and I’m glad that I tried it.
This does look nice and easy and I bet you could use this for zucchini too!!!
It would be perfect with zucchini. 🙂
I’ve never had fried asparagus, but it sure looks good. It’s now on my list of foods to try!
I think that you’ll like it.
Mm looks delicious!
It’s yummy. 🙂
The asparagus looks so tasty and crispy. I recommend to pat dry the asparagus before placing in the batter, so it will stick to it more evenly.
It’s always interesting to see the original recipe, this one in particular as it is so short and lacks much explanation. That wouldn’t pass today anywhere, but it seems it worked so well for them. 🙂
I agree – it would be a good idea to pat them dry. I drained the asparagus and let it sit for a little while before putting it in the batter, but it would work well to pat it dry. People back then seemed to have an innate understanding of how to take a very sparse recipe and make sense of it.
Yes, they definitely took it for granted that everyone knew what they meant… 🙂
A Very appetizing recipe Sheryl 🙂
The asparagus is delicious!
This is such a good idea!! I know everyone in my house would just adore these ( mostly me!! 🙂 )
If you like asparagus, you’d definitely like this recipe.
Looks delicious and an easy recipe. Yum!
It is good. 🙂
I’ve been eating a lot of asparagus lately, never would have thought to fry them!
The asparagus is very tasty when served this way.
I never heave eaten green asparagus this way! I will try it for sure because it looks so appetizing & inviting too! Yummm!
You should give it a try. You’d like it. It’s quite good.
This looks great! I really should avoid fried food but life is short!
I agree – Life is short! 🙂