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.
