I was born and raised in Beijing, China, and at 17, my family immigrated to northern California. As a teenager in a foreign environment, I sought comfort through food and learned English by roaming the supermarket reading labels and buying ingredients that were new to me. Once home, I watched PBS cooking shows to learn how to cook. I still remember, in the spring of 1994, watching Jacques Pépin peeling asparagus before sautéing it. I immediately jumped up, ran to the market across the street and bought some. That was when I cooked asparagus for the very first time!

Asparagus with Sparkling Wine Sabayon

Category

Category name

Serves

4

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch fat asparagus
  • ½ cup kosher salt
  • 4 egg yolks
  • ½ tablespoon powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 4 tablespoons sparkling white wine
  • Zest of 1 lemon, for garnish

Method

  1. Gently peel the asparagus and remove the tough bottom part of the stalk by breaking it off at the natural breaking point. Trim the spears to the same length and tie them with butcher string into 2 bundles of 5 to 6 spears each.
  2. In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil over high heat. When the water is at a rapid boil, add a ½ cup kosher salt, the water needs to taste like the ocean. Place the asparagus bundles in the boiling water and cook until they are fork tender but not mushy, about 3 minutes. Remove the bundles from the water and set them on a serving plate. Remove the twine.
  3. Make a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water over medium-high heat. Set a metal bowl on top, making sure that the base doesn’t touch the water. Place the egg yolks, powdered sugar, pinch of kosher salt and sparkling wine in the bowl and immediately whisk the mixture vigorously until it is light in color, airy and foamy. If the eggs cook too quickly, remove the bowl from the heat and continue whisking; then return the bowl to the heat and whisk more. The sabayon will start to lose its foamy appearance and become velvety in about a minute. The sabayon should resemble the consistency of aioli or mayonnaise. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
  4. To serve, spoon the warm sabayon over the asparagus and, using a microplane, grate fresh lemon zest over the top. Enjoy!