The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 971

Asparagus isn’t exactly like snap peas. Snow peas
are thinner than fiddleheads. Vegetables all take a
slightly different amount of time to cook, depending
ontheirsize,density,etc.Theonlywaytogetallof
your vegetables cooked perfectly is to cook them
separately, though you can use the same pot and
samewater,ofcourse.Thistakesusto...

Rule#3:CutAlltheVegetables
theSameSize


Eachvegetableshouldbetrimmedtopiecesthatare
all the same basic size and shape so that theywill
cookevenly.Withsnappeas,forinstance,Iremove
thestrings,cutoffthetips,andthenslicethemona
biasintonicepea-sizedpiecesthatcookquicklyand
evenly.
Forasparagus,I’lloftentrimoffthetipsandcook
them separately from the stalks, as the tips are so
much narrower and more fragile. Fiddleheads can
becookedasis,ascanshelledpeasorfavabeans.If
you want to go real hard-core with your peas and
favas,blanchthem,thenpeeloffthethinskinaround
eachindividualpeaorfava.It’stime-consuming,but
you’llendupwithprettyresults.

Rule#4:TrustNothingExcept
YourOwnSenses
When blanching vegetables, do not rely on a timer,
do not rely on past experience—trust no one and

nothing save your own eyes and mouth. Despite the
besteffortsofBigAg,vegetablesarestillreal,living
organismsthatarenaturallydiverse.Theasparagus
you’recookingtodayisdifferentfromtheasparagus
you cooked last week and will take a slightly
differentcookingtime.
Watch carefully as the vegetables cook. Fish out
piecesandtastethemoften,andassoonastheyare
ready, remove them with a wire mesh strainer and
dropthemintoyouricebath.