What better way to eat your vegetables then soaked in beer and fried! Your mom and dad would be proud. As part of an afternoon soirée I had at my house, I made beer battered asparagus for the first time using Allagash white. It was easy and they turned out great. In my experience I have found that you can fry almost anything and it would be good, but with a tempura beer batter, these were crisp, light, and not too greasy. I served them alongside a garlic lemon mayonnaise dip and they were a hit. Another plus with this recipe is that it’s a versatile dish that feels right at home at for an afternoon of college football or a fancy cocktail party.

If you want to whip up a batch of your own, here’s what you do:

Beer Battered Asparagus

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white ale, heffewizen, or pale ale
• 1 pound asparagus – ends trimmed and cut into 3 inch sized pieces
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• Salt & pepper to taste
• About 4 cups vegetable oil

What you do:

1. Whisk the flour, beer, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a bowl until smooth and well combined.
2. Heat up about 3 inches of oil in a large pot or deep fryer. The temperature should be around 375 degrees. If you drop a small amount of batter into the oil and it immediately rises to the surface with bubbles around it, the oil should be hot enough and ready.
3. Drop handfuls of the cut asparagus into the batter, ensuring they are completely coated. Pull them out, allowing excess batter to drip off.
4. Drop the batter coated aparagus in the hot oil. You should fry the pieces in batches, being careful not to over crowd the pot–if you do, the temperature of the oil will drop too low, creating soggy, sad asparagus.
5. Fry until golden brown, about 3 – 4 minutes. Pull out with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towl.

And that’s it! We’re talking about less than 15 minutes between you and beer battered asparagus goodness. Mixing up a bit of mayo with lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper makes a great dip. But, get creative. These would also be good with peanut sauce, a miso based sauce, or any kind of aioli. And they taste great with beer.