Charred asparagus and duck egg salad recipe

Make the most of asparagus season with this fresh, unique salad recipe from Woman's Weekly. Creamy, rich duck eggs are the perfect partners for the nutty veggie spears, and taste great with rings of shallots on the side. The dressing provides a tasty hint of Asian flavour as it contains miso, a traditional Japanese seasoning.

Ingredients

• 6 duck eggs
• 300g asparagus tips, trimmed
• 2tbsp olive oil
• 2 shallots, peeled, finely sliced and soaked in a little vinegar

For the dressing:

• 2tbsp dry sherry
• 2tbsp mirin (rice wine)
• 5 level tbsp brown rice miso (we used Clearspring, in a 300g jar)
• 4tsp caster sugar
• 2-3 rounded tsp English mustard

Method

1. To make the dressing: Bring the sherry and mirin to the boil for a minute. Lower the heat, add the miso, a little at a time, whisking it in. Add the sugar. When it’s dissolved take the pan off the heat. Stir in the mustard and cool.
2. Add the duck eggs to a pan of boiling salted water and keep at a rolling boil for 6 mins. Take them out, then quickly plunge them into ice-cold water. When cooled, peel them and set aside in a bowl of cold water.
3. Cook the asparagus in a pan of boiling salted water for 1-2 mins. Plunge the spears into ice-cold water. Dry them and just before serving, coat spears in oil. Cook on a hot griddle for a few minutes to char them.
4. Arrange the asparagus on a platter, add the halved duck eggs. Add a little hot water to the dressing to slacken it and drizzle dressing over the salad. Scatter with slices of shallot. Drizzle with more olive oil. Serve the rest of the dressing in a small pot.