The lovely vegetables in this series all have one thing in common: once you get them home from the farmers market, you quickly run out of ways to use them. Well, we’re here to tell you that these typecast vegetables are a lot more versatile than you might think—and we’ve got the recipes to prove it.
When you live in Berlin, even if you have zero interest in cooking, it’s hard to miss the arrival of two spring-summer seasonal obsessions: asparagus and strawberries. Germany’s obsession with asparagus—especially the white variety—runs deep. There’s an official end to the season, entire festivals devoted to it, and even an asparagus queen crowned each year. It’s impossible to miss the bright red, strawberry-shaped sheds selling the sweetest local berries from Karls Erdbeerhof. This beloved producer has its own theme park, adorable merch, and even a strawberry döner.
Asparagus was something I started to truly love after moving to Germany (…and sparkling water). While most of the national craze surrounds white asparagus, I’ve always preferred green. Its crisp, tender texture reminds me of ingredients I grew up with in China: spring bamboo shoots, garlic scapes, celtuce, and jiaobai (茭白), also known as water bamboo (but actually a product of fungal infection of wild rice).
Asparagus isn’t native to Chinese soil, and it only began appearing regularly in local markets and kitchens in the past few decades. These days, green asparagus is easy to find—even in the small town where my parents still live. I used to think white asparagus was a strictly German obsession, until I came across a book on small-town food culture in Sichuan that mentioned farmers in Bazhong, in the province’s mountainous northwest, have been cultivating white asparagus since 2013. On the other side of the country, in coastal Fujian, growers on Dongshan Island are not only farming white asparagus but incorporating it into distinctly Chinese dishes.
There are countless ways to cook with this crisp, springy green vegetable, but I almost always return to two basics: a quick blanch—白灼 (baizhuo)—or a stir-fry. Both methods let asparagus shine for what it is.
There are countless ways to cook with this crisp, springy green vegetable, but I almost always return to two basics: a quick blanch—白灼 (baizhuo)—or a stir-fry. Both methods let asparagus shine for what it is. For stir-fries, I often toss it into a wok with frozen shrimp for a light, protein-packed meal that’s done in under 20 minutes.
Here are three of my go-to ways to cook green asparagus, inspired by Chinese flavors and pantry staples I always keep on hand. They’re unfussy, adaptable, and quick to cook. And yes, there’s butter in two of them. That’s where the “-ish” in Chinese-ish comes in.
(Pro tip I picked up from America’s Test Kitchen via TikTok: soaking asparagus in a bit of sugary water can make it more tender and sweet.)
Buttery Asparagus Shrimp Stir-fry with Douchi丨豆豉芦笋炒虾
Blanched Asparagus Salad丨白灼芦笋
Egg Fried Rice with Asparagus丨芦笋蛋炒饭
More Ideas If You Can’t Get Enough
You can also grill asparagus and serve it with a Sichuan-style salt and pepper spice mix and a sprinkle of crushed roasted peanuts. I roasted mine at 200°C (about 400°F) for 15 minutes. I used this seasoning to serve new potatoes, which are also in season!
Xueci Cheng is the author of Chill Crisp, on Substack. Visit her there!
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