White Asparagus and Shrimp on the Wok

This month's theme for the 5 Star Makeover cooking group is white asparagus. Asparagus in general is a Spring vegetable. It is considered to be slightly milder in flavor and a bit more tender than green asparagus. This is my first time cooking white asparagus. Some of us in a cooking group had a hard time finding them at a grocery store. I was lucky to find some at Costco in my area in a sealed package.  I bought 2 bags just in case I screwed up the first bag haha.

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of any kind of asparagus. Sorry! The flavor is great but the after-intake-smell is hmmm..you know what I mean! After finishing 2 packages of white asparagus, I will take a little break from it. However, they are beautiful with white color and more delicate than green ones.

It was quite challenging for me. I didn't quite know how to make it creative and be outside the box. I didn't want to go with soup as I know some of us would partake in that but I did bring the idea of blending it in my sauce. I was afraid this might be too simple compared to others at the cooking group. So, hopefully I won't let everyone down.

I made 2 forms of asparagus but they are in 3 different preparations - fried, sauce, and stir fried. I peeled them before executing the 3 preparations as they are chewy and grainy with the peel. For my dish, I went with Asian style to have a "me" personality in it. I added peeled, chopped, white asparagus with other seasonings in a blender to make a stir-fry sauce. I chopped up the bottom part of the fresh ones for stir fry, and breaded with panko and Parmesan cheese for deep fry. I used a wok because I like to have a char flavor and texture for asparagus and shrimp. You just have to wok it up and create a char then mix in a sauce. Serve it on rice which I use with a plating ring to help build up height for presentation.

White Asparagus and Shrimp on the Wok

Yield: 6
Note: I cut white asparagus off about 2 -2.5 inch from the bottom before peeling

Ingredients for sauce:

1 cup white asparagus, peeled and chopped
3 Tbs oyster sauce
3 Tbs soy sauce
3 Tbs Mirin
2 Tbs Sake
1/4 cup chicken stock
Salt and white pepper

For Deep-fry:

18 stalks white asparagus, peeled
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs or more if needed
1/4 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese or more if needed
Vegetable oil for deep fry

For Stir-fry:

3 cups white asparagus, peeled, cut into 2.5 inch approximately
1 lb white shrimps, headless, shelled, deveined,  15 ct.
8 oz. fresh oyster mushroom, sliced
8 oz. brown bleach wood mushrooms
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup sauce (recipe above) or more
Splash of Sriracha
2 Tbs vegetable oil, divided

Serve with warm brown rice

Directions:

For sauce,

• Blend everything together in a blender until smooth. Adjust seasoning if needed
• Pour the mixture in a small sauce pan and put on medium heat until it's heated through. Set aside.

For Deep-fry,

• I used medium sauce pan so that I wouldn't waste too much oil. Heat oil to 375 F.
• Mix panko and Parmesan in a shallow tray.
• Coat white asparagus with egg, then transfer to the panko mixture, transfer back to egg, and back to panko mixture for second coat.
• Fry a few at a time (don't over crown) until golden brown.
• Drain with paper towel. Set aside.

For Stir-fry,

• Pat shrimp dry with paper towel. Season with salt and pepper.
• Put a wok on high heat. Wait until it starts to smoke. Add 1 Tbs oil. Swirl to coat.
• Add shrimp and wok it back and forth occasionally. This will create a char flavor. Set aside in a bowl when it's done.
• Add the remaining oil; add asparagus and wok it until it creates a char mark and flavor.
• Add mushrooms in a wok with asparagus. When the mushrooms are about to cook, add cherry tomatoes. 
• Stir occasionally. Add sauce mixture and splash of Sriracha. Stir well.
• When it's almost done, add shrimps back to the wok. Stir well and turn the heat off.

Note: You shouldn't spend lots of time on the wok otherwise the vegetable will get mushy.

Assemble:

• I used a plating ring to help with presentation. Rice at the bottom (about 1/4 of the ring), then add stir-fried asparagus by leaving out shrimps. Drizzle the sauce in if needed.
• Place 2 shrimps on top.
• Dot tomatoes and sauce on the side.
• Place fried asparagus on the side.
• The actual serving size is bigger than this. The picture is for presentation.