Soak Asparagus In This For Maximum Flavor

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Sweet is not a flavor typically associated with asparagus — instead, you'd probably describe this vegetable as slightly bitter and earthy. While this is accurate, asparagus is actually also sweet, but only when it's very recently harvested. However, there's a way to bring this flavor back and you just need to soak it in sugar water before cooking to do it.

In an Instagram video, CooksIllustrated recommends 4 teaspoons of sugar for every cup of water. The idea isn't to make a sugary vegetable, but rather simply restore the sugar content it once had. Think about the natural sweetness associated with carrots and sweet potatoes — this is the goal with sugar-water-soaked asparagus. Once you bring them home from the store, start soaking them right away — at least 24 hours in the sugar water is best. However, even soaking for 10 minutes before you start cooking something like lemony grilled asparagus will help.

The sugar water hack piggybacks off of a storage tip already used for asparagus. One way to extend its life and improve its texture is by trimming the bottom ends and placing the stalks in a jar of water; this goes in the fridge.

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After harvest, asparagus loses its sugars quickly, so you may get to taste this short-lasting flavor if it was pulled from the ground recently. In just 24 hours, its flavor can be totally changed, losing its sweetness and becoming a more muted version of itself. Because of this, it is one of the few fruits and vegetables that are shipped via plane during the winter months when it is not available locally in markets (according to Our World in Data). This ensures it gets on grocery store shelves as quickly as possible, and customers have access to fresher asparagus.

If you're someone who doesn't like asparagus, it might just be that you don't like old asparagus. In addition to losing sugars, its water content is greatly reduced in the days after harvest. If you think of the vegetable as bitter, fibrous, and woody, you've been eating older asparagus. The vegetable is still living after harvest, and without water and nutrients, it quickly starts to die. Chances are, you'll appreciate this vegetable a lot more after the sugar water hack and you check out all the ways to bring asparagus to the next level.