You know how asparagus can get a little “woody” sometimes?

That’s when it’s not as tender as it could possibly be, and it tastes more stringy and tough than fresh.

The easiest way to combat this, is to let the asparagus tell you how fresh it is.

Here’s how you do it.

Take a stem of asparagus in your hands and gently hold both ends, one in each hand. Gently bend the asparagus in half, letting it snap where it wants to. The bottom portion will be the woody part, the top, the part you want to eat. You can snap each stem separately, since not all asparagus are created equal… or, you can use the first stem as a guide, cutting off all the other stalks at the same spot.