At a certain pick-your-own-food-and-stamp-your-card-then-pay-at-the-exit restaurant, the salad bar includes a delectable rapini, even though it looks like it is prepared with nothing more than steaming or boiling, followed by sprinkling with olive oil and toasted sesame.
Yet my many attempts at duplicating the flavor have all resulted in an unpleasant rapini that is quite bitter.
I've tried steaming and boiling. I've used a lavish amount of water. I've cooked the stems twice to three times as long as the leaves/tips/flowers, as one might do with asparagus, all to no avail.
What is the secret to preparing rapini correctly?