Boiled asparagus with rough gribiche

Gribiche is a classic French sauce made from hard boiled eggs and oil, emulsified similarly to a mayonnaise. While it typically requires good knife skills to master, this beginner’s version from Adam Liaw is a much simpler version of a normally advanced sauce that still packs a flavour punch.

• serves

  2-4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Stream free On Demand

The Springtime Feast

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

Ingredients

• 2 large bunches thick asparagus
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup (60 ml) chardonnay vinegar
• 4 cornichons, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp capers, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup finely chopped French tarragon
• ¼ cup roughly chopped chervil
• ½ cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
• Salt and black pepper
• ¼ tsp fine Korean chilli powder

Instructions

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Prepare a large bowl of iced water, then whisk through a generous pinch of salt. Trim the asparagus, then use a vegetable peeler to peel a few centimetres of skin from the end (this makes it much more tender to eat).
   
2. Boil the asparagus for 1 one minute, then use tongs or a slotted spoon to transfer immediately to the iced water to stop the cooking process. Drain well, then transfer directly to a large serving plate (keep the ice water for the eggs).
   
3. To make the rough sauce gribiche, prick a hole in the base of the eggs, then boil in the salted water for 7 ½ minutes, then immediately drain and transfer the eggs to the iced water. Allow to cool, then peel.
   
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the mustard, olive oil and vinegar together to form a vinaigrette. Stir through the cornichons and capers. Roughly chop the peeled eggs, then stir them through dressing along with the capers, tarragon, chervil and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then spoon the rough sauce gribiche over the asparagus. Sprinkle with a little chilli powder and serve.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

The Springtime Feast

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G