As long as I stirred frequently, the pieces ended up uniformly bright green. However, they were unevenly cooked—some had the crisp-tender texture I wanted, while others were still crunchy. What if I added a little water to the pan to allow them to steam, so they cooked through more evenly, but not so much that the added liquid washed away flavor? If I allowed the water to evaporate, no flavor would be lost at all.
I melted a tablespoon of butter in the skillet, added a couple of tablespoons of water and some salt (another downside of conventional steaming is that you can’t season as you cook), and covered the pan. After 2 minutes, the asparagus was bright green but still crunchy. I removed the lid and stirred occasionally until the pan was almost dry and the pieces were crisp‑tender, which took about another 2 minutes.
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