A meal seems incomplete without a vegetable side dish. Or is that just me? I made some orange chicken this week (recipe to come soon), and I was trying to come up with a good side dish. I wanted it to have some Asian flavors and a little spice so that my husband would eat it. This recipe has a great blend of flavors with a little kick at the end. Perfect!
Not only does this recipe have great flavor, it is super quick and easy to make. The only thing, is that this recipe calls for miso paste which is not in your typical grocery store. The miso paste gives this dish its “umami” flavor and its saltiness. I have started to get comfortable in using miso paste now. I love the flavor and it lasts a long time in the fridge because it is fermented.
Asparagus has become one of the most reoccurring vegetables on our dinner plates. If you have never tried it, I highly recommend it. It is a hardy vegetable and can be eaten raw or cooked in a variety of ways. When it is cooked, it still has a little crunch to it. I love to roast or grill it to get a little char on the outside. I typically just season it with olive oil, salt, and pepper because that’s all it really needs. This time, I wanted to cook it with some different flavors, and I am glad I did. I have a feeling that this recipe will be added to my typical rotation of dishes and I am interested to try this on other vegetables as well. This seems like it would be great on most green vegetables (broccoli, bock choy, spinach, etc.).
Lessons Learned:
- Garlic-ginger-miso-chili is now one of my favorite seasoning mixtures.
- Always saute your aromatics (garlic, ginger, and chili in this case) before adding other ingredients. This helps bring out their smells and flavors better. As soon as I did this, my husband walked into the room and said “Man, that smells good!”
- Asparagus tastes great with Asian flavors.
- 1 lbs trimmed asparagus
- ¼ cup water
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 Tbsp miso paste
- 2 Tbsp water
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- Put the ¼ cup of water in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Add the asparagus and cover. Steam asparagus for about 5-8 minutes until tender. Drain excess water from asparagus and remove asparagus to a dish.
- Put the pan back over medium-high heat. Add the oil, ginger, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes. Saute for 30 sec to 1 minute until fragrant, but be careful to not burn the garlic. Add the miso paste, water, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Mix together and let cook for 1 minute. It will thicken slightly.
- Pour sauce over cooked asparagus and thoroughly coat the asparagus with the sauce. Serve hot.
(adapted from recipe by Steamy Kitchen)
Those look fantastic. I love that asparagus is finally back!
Thank you! I am looking forward to seeing asparagus in the grocery stores again…at least at a cheaper price.
Those look fantastic. I love that asparagus is finally back!
Thank you! I am looking forward to seeing asparagus in the grocery stores again…at least at a cheaper price.