Chicken gizzards with fresh asparagus

About a week ago, I cooked 800 grams of chicken gizzards for a soup dish. I only needed half as much but decided to simmer them all anyway. Chicken gizzards don’t cook as fast as chicken meat. They usually require at least an hour of simmering. With the price of fuel, it was wiser to cook them all at the same time and just keep in the fridge what I didn’t need at the moment. When the gizzards were tender, I cut them into strips and reserved half for future use.

Three days later, I sauteed the reserved gizzards with slices carrots and fresh asparagus for the kids’ school lunchboxes. What was left, we ate for breakfast.

If you’re not an asparagus lover, you can substitute almost any firm and crisp vegetable — broccoli or cauliflower florets, celery, snap peas (or snow peas) and string beans are only some of the possibilities. You can even add mushrooms if you prefer.

Serves 4 to 5.

Ingredients :

400 g. of chicken gizzards, cooked and cut into strips
half a head of garlic, crushed, peeled and finely minced
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
half a teaspoon of grated ginger
2 bunches of fresh baby asparagus, about 400 g., cut into 2-inch lengths
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thin rings
about 4 tbsps. of light soy sauce
about 2 tbsps. of Kecap Manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
freshly ground pepper
2 tbsps. of vegetable cooking oil (more if you’re not using a non-stick pan)

Heat the cooking oil in a non-stick wok or frying pan. Add the chicken gizzards and cook over high heat until the edges start to brown.

Add the garlic, onion and ginger, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the carrot rings and cut asparagus. Stir fry for about a minute.

Pour in the soy sauce and Kecap Manis.

Add lots of ground pepper.

Cook just until the sauce boils.