Braai'd Asparagus with
Hollandaise Sauce
Spring brings many delights, best of which is white asparagus. With asparagus season in full swing, we want to show you how to add this delicacy to your braai.
Germans have come up with a whole load of nicknames to express their undying passion for asparagus. These range from the “King of the Vegetables” (königliche Gemüse) or the “noble vegetable” (Edelgemüse) to “edible ivory” (essbare Elfenbein) and “white gold” (Weißes Gold).
Ingredients
- 1Kg fresh Asparagus
Hollandaise Sauce –
- 250g Butter
- 3 Egg yolks
- 1 Tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 Tsp Dijon Mustard
- 30g Water
- ½ Tsp Salt
- Olive Oil
- Sea Salt
- Freshly ground Black Pepper
Cooking Instructions
- Peel the Asparagus and cut the woody ends of. Then rub with good quality Olive Oil and season with Sea Salt and Pepper.
Pro Tipp: Save the peels and the off cuts to make a delicious Asparagus Cream soup later.
- Make a fire with medium heat and place the Asparagus indirectly on the heat. The cooking time depends on the thickness of the Asparagus, but they should take between 45 minutes and an hour to cook on the fire.
Pro Tip: I used a gas braai and placed the Asparagus in the middle. I then turned on both burners on the sides which created a convection effect and ensured even cooking. If you are using coals in a kettle braai, just make sure you rotate the Asparagus to ensure even cooking.
- At the halfway mark (about 30 minutes) I turned on all the burners to a medium high heat and created those beautiful char marks on the Asparagus before taking them off the heat again and letting them finish their cook indirectly.
Pro Tipp: The reason I did it at this point is because the Hollandaise Sauce needs a lot of attention and if I must focus on that while ensuring my Asparagus doesn’t burn on the higher heat, one will go wrong…
- Start the Hollandaise sauce about 15 minutes before the Asparagus is ready (see cooking instructions below).
- Once the Hollandaise Sauce is ready, plate the Asparagus directly from the Braai, add the Sauce and dress with salt and pepper.
Cooking the Hollandaise Sauce:
- Cut the butter into blocks, place a saucepan on your braai and melt the butter on low heat. Pour the butter into a small jug and set aside.
- Combine the Egg Yolks, Lemon Juice, Dijon Mustard, Salt and Water in the saucepan (still on low heat) by whisking constantly.
Pro Tip: Do not let the ingredients boil! The secret is to keep it below boiling point.
- Once combined, start whisking vigorously and slowly pour the hot butter into the saucepan.
Pro Tip: This takes some real practice, but the key is to pour the hot butter in very slowly while whisking very vigorously. This should ensure that the ingredients combine and form a delicious, creamy Hollandaise Sauce.
Pro pro Tip: Never let the ingredients boil at any point! The moment the sauce comes close to boiling point it will split and be ruined.
- The moment everything is combined and warmed through, take it off the heat and serve.
Enjoy!
This goes well with:
