Miso-Hollandaise Asparagus

I've had this dish at Gyoza King - a great Japanese restaurant in Vancouver - and it was fantastic, so I decided to give it a go. I ended up blending 2 recipes: one from 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' for a basic guide on making Hollandaise, and one from 'The Japanese Kitchen' as a guide of ingredients.

Here's the recipe from 'The Japanese Kitchen:'

Asuparagasu to su-miso [asparagus with vinegar miso]

"Su-miso is a traditional combination of two classic Japanese ingredients: rice vinegar and miso paste. This healthy sauce is simple to make and preps up any boiled vegetable.

Serves 4

• 1 bunch fresh asparagus, cleaned and trimmed
• 7 oz white miso paste
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon sake
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 2 egg yolks

Steam the asparagus. In a mixing bowl, mix the miso, sugar, sake, and vinegar to a smooth paste. Add the egg yolks and stir well. Arrange the asparagus on 4 serving plates, spoon over the vinegar miso, and serve."

Here's what I did:
Steamed the asparagus for about 5 minutes, until bright green and just softened...

Mixed 2 egg yolks with 1.5 Tbsp of dark miso (I don't have white miso, but would have used that), 1 tsp rice vinegar, and a touch of cold butter. Heated over low heat while stirring for about 2 to 3 minutes until thickened, added another touch of cold butter to prevent it from curdling, then stirred in about 1 Tbsp melted butter (minus the milky part at the bottom of the pan). Poured it over the steamed asparagus, and ate immediately.

I had to restrain myself from eating the whole plate... it came out pretty true to what I've had at the restaurant. The only problem was that I used dark miso, which is a bit grainy, and that kept the sauce from being thoroughly creamy.