If food is a form of art [and by definition, I believe it is]— it's an exceptional one. Food has the distinction of engaging ALL of the senses. In food there is beauty, taste, aroma, texture, and sound.
The most beautiful sound that food makes is 'crispy'. Crispy and crunchy are often used interchangeably, but there is a difference. Crispy is when a dry food meets the teeth, it offers little resistance and shatters into a brittle cadenza, while crunchy implies a thicker, denser product with a deeper resonance.
Crispy is a lilting violin; crunchy is a rotund cello.
crispy asparagus rose yogurt
I've been chasing the elusive crispy, trying to coax it from vegetables. Oh, I know there are ways…
The makers of snack foods know its addictive powers. They have the technical and practical knowledge to achieve it, but their processes and equipment are not available to the average cook.
Of course, there is always deep frying, which is 'dry boiling' in fat at an accelerated temperature that dehydrates, browns, and ultimately crisps. While I love the texture, flavor, and aromas that hot fat lends to food, it wasn't what I was after.
I was chasing the type of crispy that comes from lyophilization, or freeze drying, a process that draws moisture from materials by converting the water in its cells to a solid frozen state, bypassing the liquid phase, to produce a product that is visibly unaltered and intact. Without access to this sexy beast of technology, I had to achieve the fragile crispness with only the tools available in my kitchen.
I knew the key was dehydration. In its pursuit, I moved thin shavings of asparagus from the low temperatures of a dehydrator to the higher temperatures of an oven, to no avail. In both cases, the drawing of moisture collapsed and compacted the cells, resulting in a product that I can only obliquely refer to as crisp. They had the right 'snap', but that was followed by an unpleasant papery chew.
Going back to square one, I restarted the process with shaved asparagus, but this time I attempted to soften the cell walls in heavily salted (1 1/2 Tblsps per quart) boiling water. Next, I spread them out on parchment and (oven) dehydrated at 150F for 30 minutes. Analyzing the shriveled, dry asparagus at this point, I wished for a fast, hot,and dry heat source to expand and puff the collapsed cells. A veil lifted, and 30 seconds later, the most underutilized and misunderstood appliance in my kitchen showed me some of its hidden potential.
Thank you microwave oven.
p.s. Crispy asparagus taste suspiciously like pistachios.
p.p.s. Beware— they are just as addictive.
Playing with Fire and Water 
Hmm… a healthy bar snack that looks good to boot. Nice one, Chef!
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Awesome idea. I’d love to try to replicate this in the kitchen.
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Haha.. great post. Thanks for sharing also 🙂
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Have you tried this with some other veg?
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Hi from Uruguay, Southamerica. Congrats for your postings, they are great.
My humble suggestion as a small aroma producer, would be to take your dried asparagus to powder form, add a permitted dosage of monosodium glutamate in cristals–>
Zip, you got asparagus aroma to place in a cristal jar and use it whenever you want.
Rgds/Gabriel.-
http://innovaindustria.blogspot.com
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only with mushrooms…they’re fantastic! On the waiting list: broccoli, sweet potatoes, green beans, fennel. Let me know if you try it.
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Hi Gabriel–I did coarsely grind the crispy asparagus to make celery salt for risotto in previous post. I’m interested in why you suggest MSG?
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I’m going at it with Zucchini. I think this may be the visual extra I needed on some dishes… If it works!
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Do you think there’s a way to do something similar with fruits? I’d love a crispy fruit snack, too…
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I feel like I signed up for a cooking class and instead was immersed in a fascinating chemistry lab. I love it! (And this coming from a Lit. major who took only the requisite science-for-non-majors classes.) Who knew the microwave could come to the rescue like that.
Anyway, I found you on TasteSpotting and am writing to say that if you have any photos that aren’t accepted there, I’d love to publish them. Visit my new site (below), it’s a lot of fun! I hope you will consider it.
Best,
Casey
Editor
http://www.tastestopping.wordpress.com
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So cool…thanks for sharing this technique and beautiful pictures!d
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This is a gret post, thank you for sharing. I’d love to try it with eggplant but I’m a little skeptical. The asparagus looks great!
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Cool picture!!! Love the idea.
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We recently finished the asaparagus season in England, when I annually tend to eat my favourite vegetable every day. I never thought I’d come across a new way to prepare them until I saw your post. Thanks for such a great idea!
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How long did you boil it for?
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blanch for about 20 seconds, then shock in ice water. Drain on paper towels before dehydrating.
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fantastic, I’ll have to revisit this later and experiment. Cheers!
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I guess i’m a bit confused or just not understanding very well. After you put them in the oven for a little while, you put them in the microwave? If so, how long did you nuke them for after the regular oven? Thanks for any help here 🙂
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I agree. I really want to try this but I’m confused on what you actually did
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It’s been awhile since I’ve made these, but here’s what I remember: shave the asparagus into thin shavings with a veg peeler, blanch the shavings in boiling water for 1-2 minutes until limp, drain and lay out on parchment paper, dehydrate in low (130-150F) oven until dry, microwave on high for 30 secs-1 min until crisp and puffed.
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This is very cool, and I’m definitely going to try these asparagus. I’ve been looking for a way to riff on the standard steamed asparagus with aioli, and this is a great detour. Asparagus meets french fry meets sophisticated cracker.
Your photography is gorgeous. I’m just starting up with my blog and the pics are really the hardest part! Hard to do some things justice.
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