white asparagus

in the supermarket today, i found a stack of huge fresh white asparagus (made in kyushu region, south area of japan). it immediately reminded me of the dish my husband’s mother cooked on one spring day a few years ago in holland. my husband is from the region called limburg in the south part of holland, where white asparagus is one of their specialties (white asparagus soup, grilled white asparagus, etc.). when in season, apparently you can buy a kilo of them for only a couple of euros in local shops. her dish that day came with boiled white asparagus with melted butter sauce, served with boiled ham, boiled eggs and boiled potatoes. white asparagus is one of the most important specialty dishes of the area, so she even had the matching plates to go with the food.

(mama’s special asparagus dish – june 2008)

instead of trying to replicate the dish completely, i decided to go with my own improvisation with pan fried pork filet, boiled eggs, boiled green beans and jasmine rice.

(my version of the asparagus dish – april 2011)

for the asparagus, i used extra virgin olive oil instead of the butter sauce, and sprinkled salt & pepper just so slightly to give a faint taste, so that we can fully enjoy the taste of the vegetable. eggs are soft boiled, so that the egg york may give some creamy texture.

for the pork, i marinaded the filet with the following mixture for half an hour or so before pan frying them:

salt & pepper on the filet
3 table spoons of olive oil
3 table spoons of white wine
2 table spoon of balsamico
2 pinches of dried thyme
1 tea spoon of honey

when frying the filet, no extra oil is necessary. cook the filet until it is nice and golden.