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How to prepare white asparagus

Name: How to prepare white asparagus
Prep time: 22 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 32 min
Yield: 400 g
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 500 g Asparagus; 50 g butter

Preparing asparagus involves peeling, washing and cooking.

Here's a simple way to do it, with 2 different cooking methods.

282 K 3.6/5 (188 reviews)644557

Duration

35 min.

Difficulty

Easy

Last modified on: May 22^th 2026

Step by step recipe Ingredients Duration Nutritional facts Cost Comments Support the site ❤️

For 400 g, you will need:

1 500 g Asparagus
2 50 g butter (optional)
Total weight: 500 grams

Times for this recipe

Preparation

25 min.

Cooking

10 min.

All in all

35 min.

Preparation 25 min.

Cooking 10 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time

To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe

Stage 1

There's no need to wash the asparagus before peeling - you can do that afterwards.

Stage 2

Peeling

Place the asparagus on a cutting board, ideally a little higher than your work surface.

Stage 3

Using a peeler, make a movement from the head to the foot, stopping a good 1 cm from the foot of the asparagus, there's no need to go all the way...

Stage 4

...then rotate the asparagus slightly and repeat, until you've gone all the way around the asparagus.

Stage 5

At the end, break off the stalk - chefs call it "the wood" - along with the peelings, and throw it away (in the compost).

Stage 6

Your asparagus is completely peeled, ready to be washed and cooked.

Stage 7

Here's a short video showing the complete peeling process.

Stage 8 - ⌛ 20 min.

How to prepare white asparagus : Stage 8

Do this for all your asparagus, then wash and drain.

Stage 9 - ⌛ 10 min.

How to prepare white asparagus : Stage 9

Cooking "À l'anglaise"

This is the simplest method: bring a pan of water to the boil, season with salt, and plunge in the peeled asparagus.

Cook until the asparagus melts, about 10 minutes. The tip of a knife should pierce the bottom of the asparagus easily ("as if in butter").

Stage 10 - ⌛ 2 min.

How to prepare white asparagus : Stage 10

Then drain the asparagus...

Stage 11

...then set aside on a kitchen towel or paper towel.

This is important because asparagus cooked in this way always gives off a little water afterwards, which is best drained off.

Stage 12

Cooking "À court mouillement"

A more sophisticated method, asparagus is cooked in a mixture of butter and water, which then reduces and concentrates the flavors.

In a frying pan or saucepan over medium heat, melt a large knob of butter.

Stage 13

Pour in the peeled asparagus, season with salt and pepper, then stir a little, and add enough water to reach halfway up the asparagus (about 1 or 2 glasses).

Stage 14

Cover with a sheet of baking paper...

Stage 15

...and put a lid on it.

Stage 16

Cook until melted, about 10 minutes, a knife tip should pierce the bottom of the asparagus stem very easily ("as if in butter").

Remove the paper and lid for the last 3-4 minutes to reduce the cooking juices.

Stage 17

Drain the asparagus, and it's ready for your recipe, or to be eaten as is, with a mayonnaise or hollandaise sauce, for example.

Remarks

For short-cooking, you can replace the water with stock, or a mixture of stock or water + white wine.

Many recipes recommend cooking asparagus "in bunches", but I don't find this very effective: asparagus in bunches doesn't cook as well as asparagus on its own.

Keeping: 1 day, refrigerated.

Source: Home made.

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Nutritional information

	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats	Calories	Energy
Per 100 g	2 g RDI=4 %	4 g RDI=2 %	8 g RDI=12 %	103 kcal RDI=5 %	435 kJ RDI=5 %
Whole recipe	12 g RDI=19 %	20 g RDI=8 %	43 g RDI=60 %	519 kcal RDI=26 %	2,175 kJ RDI=26 %