Asparagus with Miso Dressing (Karashi Sumisoae)

1. Gather all the ingredients.

To Make the Miso Dressing

1. In a small bowl, mix 2 Tbsp white miso and 1 Tbsp sugar really well until the sugar is dissolved. Then, add 1 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned) and ⅛ tsp Japanese karashi hot mustard to combine. Set aside.

To Blanch the Asparagus

1. Cut off the bottom ends of 8 oz asparagus spears. (You can also snap them off with your fingers or shave them with a vegetable peeler. For a clean presentation, I trimmed the bottoms with a knife.) Then, chop the asparagus into 2-inch (5-cm) pieces. Keep the spears and tips separated as we will blanch them separately.
2. Bring a large pot of water (5 cups) to a boil and add 1 tsp salt. Add the asparagus stems and cook for 1 to 1½ minutes.
3. Then, add the asparagus tips to cook for another 1 minute, or until bright green and crisp-tender.
4. Drain the water (or pick up the asparagus with a strainer) and shock in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process to bring out the beautiful green color. Once cooled, drain well and pat dry with a paper towel.

To Serve

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