German Asparagus with White Sauce (Hollandaise)
Asparagus with white sauce or sauce hollandaise is the most popular German asparagus recipe, a simple and delicious dish that celebrates the short season.
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 644kcal
Equipment
- Large saucepan or pot
- Immersion blender Note 1
- Jug for the sauce (measuring cup) Note 2 – Very important!
- Jug cup for the butter
Ingredients
Asparagus:
- 4 ½ lbs white asparagus 2 kg Note 3
- 1 tablespoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter Note 4
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
White sauce hollandaise (Note 5):
- 2 eggs yolks Note 6
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 stick unsalted butter 4 oz/ 115 g
- parsley and lemon wedges to serve
Instructions
Cook asparagus:
- Peel asparagus: Wash the spears and remove the lower, woody ends (don’t discard them, see Expert Tips). Place a stalk on the cutting board and peel it with a vegetable peeler. Start underneath the head of the plant and keep turning the spear to peel it all over. 4 ½ lbs/ 2 kg white asparagus
- Cook asparagus: Fill a large saucepan or pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add salt, a little butter, and sugar to the boiling water. Carefully lower the asparagus into the pot, cover, and lower the heat. 1 tablespoon salt + 1 tablespoon butter + 1 teaspoon sugar
- Cook for 16 to 20 minutes, depending on thickness and personal taste (I cooked mine for 16 minutes, and I like it to still have a bit of a bite). Thin asparagus won't need that long (Note 7).
- Drain: Remove the cooked stalks from the water and let them drain well. Place them on kitchen towels to make sure the water is absorbed thoroughly.
White sauce:
- Place the egg yolks, mustard, water, lemon juice, and salt in the appropriate container )(Note 2). 2 egg yolks + 1 teaspoon mustard + 1 teaspoon water + 1 tablespoon lemon juice + ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Transfer it to the jug cup and let it stand for about 20 seconds so the milky whites can settle at the bottom. 1 stick/ 115 g butter
- Combine: Place the immersion blender into the container with the egg yolks and process briefly to combine.
- Add melted butter: With the blender stick going, slowly drizzle the melted hot butter in a thin stream into the egg mixture; this should take about 30 to 60 seconds; don’t move the stick while processing; keep it at the bottom of the container. The sauce should be thick, creamy, and pale.
- Serve immediately sprinkled with a little parsley and a few drops of lemon juice.
Notes
- Immersion blender: This recipe is only suitable for an immersion blender. If you want to use another kind of blender, you must use another recipe.
- The size of the container matters! You need a jar or measuring cup that tightly fits the blender’s head. Ensure it’s not too large. (See photographs in the blog post).
- Asparagus: Green asparagus can be used instead, but white asparagus is traditional.
- Butter: Use European-style butter with 81% fat. Unsalted is perfect, but salted is also ok; adjust the salt accordingly.
- Make a traditional sauce hollandaise using the instructions in the blog post.
- Eggs: Use large egg yolks if you live in the US and medium ones in Germany. If you are worried about raw eggs and food poisoning, use pasteurized (or irradiated) eggs.
- Cooking time greatly depends on the thickness of the asparagus spears. Ideally, they should be thick, and the cooking time should be as indicated in the recipe, but the thickness can vary, affecting the cooking time. Start checking soon enough; the asparagus should be cooked al dente and not be too soft or mushy.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/4 of the dish | Calories: 644kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 58g | Saturated Fat: 35g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 280mg | Sodium: 1937mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 9g