Grilled white asparagus with plum glaze and ginger salsa, soy baked egg yolk, deep fried potatoes and asparagus hollandaise

Here is the first dish of spring, a lovely asparagus dish that we spice up with a few Asian flavors to break the norm. A tasty start to our 2025 spring menu

White asparagus

• 10 pcs White asparagus
• 2 Banana shallots
• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• 5 g Black pepper
• 10 g sugar
• 50 g Butter
• 60 g Champagne vinegar
• 200 g Water
• 100 g Miso paste (red)

Peel the asparagus and clean it thoroughly. Slice the shallots, garlic, asparagus peel and trimmings and sweat them with the black pepper in a saucepan. Add the sugar, butter, miso paste, champagne vinegar and water and bring to the boil. Leave the liquid to cool in an ice bath before pouring it into a vacuum bag with the asparagus. Vacuum pack and cook in a water bath or steam oven at 80°C for about 10 minutes. Remove the asparagus from the bag and save the liquid for use in the hollandaise sauce.

If you don’t have access to a vacuum machine and steam oven, you can boil the liquid in a wide pan. Then add the asparagus to the pan and simmer until the asparagus is soft (but not overcooked).

Grill and glaze the asparagus just before serving.
Cut the asparagus into 3-4 cm pieces.

Deep-fried baking potatoes

• 0,5 pcs Baked potatoes

Thinly slice the potatoes on a mandolin to crisp size. Rinse the potato slices in cold water to remove excess starch. Strain the water and deep-fry the slices in hot oil until golden brown and crispy.

Plum glaze

• 40 g Soy sauce
• 75 g Fermented plums
• 75 g White wine
• 100 g Mirin
• 2 pcs Black garlic
• 25 g Butter

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, cook the soy, fermented plum juice, white wine, mirin and fermented black garlic to a glaze consistency. Once the glaze has reduced completely, assemble with butter for a silky texture.

Ginger salsa

• 120 g Scallions
• 20 g Ginger
• 10 g Soy sauce
• 3 g Salt
• 15 g Sugar
• 15 g Rapeseed oil

Peel the ginger and grate it finely with a microplane into a bowl. Thinly slice the scallions and add them to the bowl with the ginger. Mix with the soy sauce, salt, sugar and rapeseed oil to make a balanced dressing.

Soy baked egg yolk

• 10 g Soy sauce
• 6 Eggs

Separate the yolks from the egg white and place the yolks in a vacuum bag together with the soy. Seal the vacuum bag according to the instructions and cook the eggs at 65°C in a water bath for 60 minutes. Store the egg white in the fridge.

Cucumber balls

• 3 shiso leaves
• 3 g Salt
• 30 g Baby spinach
• 100 g Rapeseed oil
• 1 Jalapeño
• 1/2 Cucumber

Blend the shiso leaves, baby spinach, jalapeño and salt with canola oil for 2 minutes on high speed in a blender. Pass the oil slowly through a fine-mesh sieve to obtain a clear and intense green oil. Shape the cucumber into small balls with a melon baller and place them in the green oil and vacuum seal. If you do not have a vacuum machine, simply place the balls in a zip lock bag to marinate as long as time allows. The longer they marinate the better flavour and colour.

Asparagus hollandaise

• 40 g Lemon juice
• 2 Eggs
• 300 g Butter
• Asparagus liquid

Melt the butter in a thick-bottomed saucepan. While the butter is melting, reduce the asparagus liquid by half. Let the asparagus liquid cool and mix it with the eggs and lemon juice in a blender jug. Whisk the egg liquid to a thick and fluffy consistency and pour in the butter in a thin stream, mixing constantly until a smooth hollandaise is achieved. Season to taste with salt.

Garnish

• 20 Grapes
• Fermented plum powder (can be excluded)
• Lemon juice in spray bottle

Thinly slice the grapes and prepare for assembly and serving.

Assembly

Arrange the ingredients neatly on a plate (take inspiration from the picture).