Asparagus with Miso Dressing (Karashi Sumisoae)

Step 1

Gather all the ingredients.

Step 2

In a small bowl, mix white miso and sugar really well until the sugar is dissolved. Then add the rest of the ingredients to combine. Set aside.

Step 3

Cut off the bottom ends of the asparagus (You can also snap with fingers or shave off with a vegetable peeler. For a clean presentation, I trimmed the bottoms with a knife). Then chop the remaining asparagus into 2-inch (5-cm) pieces. Keep the spears and tips separated as we will blanch them separately.

Step 4

Bring a large pot of water (5 cups) to a boil and add 1 tsp salt. Add all the stems of asparagus and cook for 1 to 1.5 minutes.

Step 5

Then add the tip sections to cook for another 1 minute, or until bright green and crisp-tender.

Step 6

Drain water (or pick up the asparagus with a strainer) and shock in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process, which brings out the beautiful green color. Once cooled, drain well and pat dry with a paper towel.

Step 7

Neatly arrange the asparagus stems in serving bowls and place the tips on top. Drizzle miso dressing before you serve. I put salt pickled cherry blossom on top as a garnish.