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Asparagus Tempura with Ginger-Soy Dipping Sauce

Posted on 05/13/2010 by Maura

I’ve talked about Little Neck ad nauseam on this site, but when you get down to it, this place holds most of my childhood memories and some of my dearest friends.  Yes, I used to hate it when I was younger, but I have grown to love it now that I can comprehend the sheer beauty in simply relaxing all day on the beach.

Even when I hated leaving all my friends behind when I was a pesky teenager, I still looked forward to the weather getting sweltering hot, signaling July was right around the corner.  This meant we’d be packing up the car and heading up north where the weather was not only much cooler, but I also got to see my sweet, lovely friend Allison (and Whitney and Peanie, of course).  This made the 9-10 hour trip much more bearable knowing I’d be seeing her familiar face seconds after arriving at our cottage.

I always envied Allison–she was a fantastic ballerina and gymnast and I loved hearing her whimsical stories about twirling around in the Nutcracker that winter or making the Yellow Jackets gymnastics team as I lacked all talent in those areas.  Most of all, I envied the fact she could cook!  The first time I baked a cake it was with Allison–and it wasn’t from a box.  I saw a Red Velvet Cake recipe in Oprah’s magazine and really wanted to try it.  I’m sure it was the cream cheese frosting that got me, but either way Allison and I set out to make it in her kitchen.  Allison, not being one to use a recipe, kept saying “oh we should sub this ingredient in for this one” or “we should add more of this.”  I had no idea how to bake so I went along with it, and it was delicious!  Mind you, we were probably 12 and she could already bake like a professional.  Jealousy is an understatement.

It was no surprise when Allison wanted to go to school for hospitality, as she was throwing dinner parties for ladies at Little Neck from the age of like, 15.  After college she went on to grad school at the Culinary Institute of America, and now she is working in a restaurant back in Massachusetts.  I have no doubt she will be incredibly successful, as she is extremely bright, so friendly, and a damn good cook.  Not to mention she is one of the sweetest, kindest people I know.

With this being said, when I wanted to make Asparagus Tempura like Victoria’s Gastro Pub, I knew who to turn to for a reliable recipe.  Allison had made this recipe in class, and it was delicious!  The original made enough tempura batter to serve like, 200 people, so I really scaled it back.  This made me a little weary since not everything came out to an even measurement, but you could not tell a bit.  The batter was light and airy and the asparagus fried to a perfect golden brown.  The asparagus itself was soft and the outside was crunchy, and since I had my oil at the correct temperature, they weren’t greasy at all.  I would call this fancy bar food, which, in essence means delicious.

Asparagus Tempura

Ingredients

1 tablespoon baking powder

1-1/4 cups flour

1-1/2 cups ice water

a few dashes sesame oil

2 bunches asparagus, trimmed of hard ends

peanut or canola oil for frying

Instructions

Mix baking powder and flour in a large bowl.  Mix water and oil in a small bowl.  Whisk the liquids into the flour mixture until loosely combined–do not over mix–there should still be some lumps.  Refrigerate for one hour.

After an hour, pour about 2 inches of peanut or canola oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium-high heat to get the oil really hot.  Then, take the tempura out of the fridge, dredge the asparagus in flour, shake off the excess, then dip it into the batter.  Deep fry in hot peanut or canola oil.  Drain on a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt.

Ginger-Soy Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1 clove grated garlic

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

dash Mirin, if you have it

2 scallions, finely chopped

Instructions

Whisk all the ingredients together and top with chopped scallions.

Recipe provided by Allison Cairns via CIA

About Maura

I have a secret: I cannot do anything in moderation. I always have to take things to the extreme, at the expense of my own and my family's sanity and often times my dad’s checkbook. When I started taking horseback riding lessons, I insisted on having a pony. When I ice skated for probably the second time, I made my mom buy me ice skates that were never again worn. When I thought I wanted to be a teacher, I made my parents turn one of the rooms in the basement into a school room, stocked with an overhead projector, pull-down maps and a real, classroom-sized chalkboard and white board. When I discovered cooking I bossed my older sister around in the kitchen for an entire day, forcing her to make dozens of recipes with me against her will and then had her do all the dishes (sorry Cait). And, when I discovered food blogs I bought the biggest binder I could find, printed out 250 recipes in one day and laminated and categorized each one. My dad was not happy about the ink situation. So, what does this tell you about me? For one, you can trust that every recipe I post is more than delicious and has been meticulously tried and tested for you. Also, that I’m an anal freak. Enjoy! View all posts by Maura → This entry was posted in Appetizer, Vegetables and tagged asian, asparagus, asparagus fries, asparagus tempura, soy sauce, tempura. Bookmark the permalink. ← Smoked Pulled Pork Sweet & Tangy Coleslaw →