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| Looks good... |
20160327:
While there was still half a pack of frozen shrimp left in the freezer, I wasn't in the mood to make any more shrimp. Furthermore, I decided to place focus on the
asparagus portion of the meal and it's that reason that this post is entitled "Asparagus and Franks" instead of "Franks and Asparagus."*
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| Asparagus |
Steps:
1. I cut up two Franks - tried using these huge beef frankfurters under the brand Miller's, half a bunch of asparagus, two green onions, one Serrano pepper.
2. I throw that all but the asparagus into the pan over one tablespoon of butter (less than I used with the shrimp), didn't add any garlic, threw on some sugar.
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| Green onion |
3. Then, when I felt like I needed some liquid, I poured in a bit of
soju, because I didn't have any white cooking wine.
4. Finally I added the asparagus and let it soften up a bit, but not too much.
Thoughts:
Overall, I found the Franks were
salty, but I later boiled one to compare and even that was naturally salty. Note that, in contrast, the asparagus leaned towards being bland.
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| Without cooking wine, I went ahead and used some soju. |
Furthermore, unlike yesterday, some portions of the asparagus were rather raw and chewing them left a lot of fiber. I should cut off the thicker bottom inch or two of each spear and either cook them separately or discard them. Speaking of which, I realized towards the end that I could place them at an angle of the desired cut and cut multiple at once. 6:58PM PT
Unlike the Jalapeno pepper I used with the shrimp, I found the Serrano pepper had no detectable impact on the spiciness.
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| Franks with green onion, Serrano pepper over butter. |
On a different note, I was glad the soju didn't add any detectable bitterness. It was, as I recall from a couple days earlier, quite smooth and tasteless.
As for the butter, I didn't taste any of the butter, and I thought the butter was a primary contributor to the taste and smell of the shrimp dish, but perhaps my senses have been misguided.**
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| Oops, this was salted butter. |
Finally, while writing this post (20160411), I was thinking about the saltiness and suddenly wondered if the
butter I used was
salted. While I used only a tablespoon of butter and the asparagus was bland, the Franks could have soaked up any salt in the butter prior to the addition of the asparagus.
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| I anxiously wait. |
*A friend of mine recently (20160411) commented that word placement in a Vietnamese dish is important (primary focus coming first in the name). Upon writing this post, I wondered if this subtle convention had any subconscious effect on naming my previous "Cook" posts. In any case, the thought will certainly have a conscious impact on naming any "Cook" posts I have from here on out.
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| Serrano pepper |
**Talking about misguided senses reminds me of how I grew up thinking I knew which direction was North because of the major freeway which ran through the area. Then one day I realized that the strip of freeway near me actually runs East/West and/or Northwest/Southeast. Everything I knew had suddenly been rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise!
Relevant Links:
Shrimp and Asparagus
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