Tempura Asparagus

I warned you. This stuff is SOOOOOO good! It's another RR magazine recipe that I copied and kept in my arsenal. Everything about this recipe, the sesame seeds in the batter and the dipping sauce with the dijon mustard. In the words of RR, "Yum-O!"

Speaking of the amazing dipping sauce, here is what you will need:
1/4 C Yogurt
2 T Mayo
2 T Dijon Mustard
1 T Honey

Jim helped me by making the dipping sauce.

Mayo and Dijon.

While Jim mixes the four ingredients together for the sauce, I move on to the batter. You will need:

3/4 C Flour

1/2 C Cornstarch

1/4 C Sesame Seeds

3/4 t Salt

1/2 t baking soda

Mix those ingredients in a shallow and wide enough bowl to drop and roll the asparagus in.

Here is the (not so) secret ingredient for the "tempura" batter. Club Soda! Add 1 Cup seltzer (at room temperature.)

To prepare the asparagus I lopped off the bottoms. Usually these should have heads, but I lopped those off when I made the chicken pot pie. Just wash these and trim the bottoms and pat dry with a paper towel.

When you pour the seltzer it will bubble a lot. Mix it well, but don't overmix because the bubbles make it light and airy. If there are lumps, it's okay. Once everything is mixed, start dipping and frying.

Work with about 4 asparagus at a time, you don't want to crowd the pan.

Here is something new for me. Grapeseed oil. I read that it has a high smoking point so its great to fry foods in, and it's a healthier alternative to some other oils. Grapeseed oil is extracted from the seeds of grapes, typically wine grapes. (Okay, being a wino, I love that!)

I just used a half an inch of the grapeseen oil, turned the heat to medium-high. If you use a thermometer you are wanting the oil to get to 375 degrees. Without a thermometer, test the oil by dropping a little batter in the pan. You want it to sizzle. The asparagus cook quickly, maybe 45 seconds to a minute on each side.

I drain these on paper towels.

Then plate these up along with your dipping sauce. Oh my, oh my, oh my!

These are so yummy!

Going, Going...

Gone!