Bacon & Asparagus Rolls
- Asparagus (you really need fresh asparagus here, not the canned variety)
- Streaky Bacon Rashers (streaky bacon works best as it is more malleable than back bacon, although the fat in the bacon means this isn’t the healthiest of recipes)
(With 4 thick stalks of asparagus and 4 long rashers of streaky bacon, I could make 16 mini rolls, but this will depend on your asparagus, width and length of bacon rashers)
Teriyaki Glaze
equal parts of:
- Soya Sauce
- Sake
- Mirin
- Sugar
1. Wash and trim around 1cm (1/2 inch) off the base of the asparagus stalks.
2. Boil some water in a saucepan and when the water is boiling, add the asparagus. Turn down the heat and simmer for around 4 minutes, or until just cooked through. Drain and set aside.
3. Cut the asparagus into shorter lengths. I cut mine to around 5cm (2 inches) long, but go along with the original length of your asparagus as well (eg. cut it into thirds or quarters if more convenient).
4. Cut the bacon into shorter lengths. A good gauge is to make the lengths of bacon around twice the length of your asparagus stalks. Slice the bacon to adjust the width if necessary as well. (You may want to cut one slice first to test if the width and length are correct.)
5. Roll a strip of bacon around the asparagus. If you are using thick stalks, you can wrap the bacon around each stalk. If your asparagus stalks are thinner, wrap the bacon around 3 - 4 stalks. Put the rolls tightly next to each other in a small bowl (to help prevent them from unrolling). If the bacon unrolls too easily, the lengths of bacon are too short.

6. Make the teriyaki glaze by mixing equal amounts of soya sauce, sugar, sake and mirin. For a small batch of bacon & asparagus rolls, 1 Tbsp of each seasoning is sufficient. Pour the glaze over the rolls.
7. Heat up a little oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the bacon and asparagus rolls on both sides until the bacon is cooked and lightly browned. Baste the rolls with the extra glaze in the bowl as you are frying them. You can also cook the rolls on a bbq/cast iron grill/George Foreman grill.
