Curried Cold Asparagus Soup

This is the kind of soup that opens a dinner party in spring, not a weeknight bowl. The technique uses three steps: build a deeply flavored asparagus-chicken stock, fortify it with a butter-flour roux, then enrich it with egg yolks and cream for a silky, almost custard-y body.

The split asparagus treatment is the move here. The stalks go into the simmer for forty-five minutes and get pureed into the base, contributing all their flavor without their fibrous texture. The tips get a quick blanch and stay whole, dropped into the chilled soup as both textural and visual garnish.

Tempering the egg yolks is the only fussy step. Stir a ladle of warm soup into the yolks first to bring them up to temperature, then return the mixture to the pot. Skip this and the yolks scramble into yellow specks instead of dissolving smoothly.

Curry powder is the unexpected note. Just a teaspoon brings warmth and complexity without making the soup taste like curry. Lemon juice keeps it bright on the tongue.

Chef Tips

• Use a vegetable peeler to remove the tough outer layer of thick asparagus stalks; thin pencil asparagus doesn’t need it
• Chill the soup at least 3 hours before serving; cold dulls flavors, so taste it cold and adjust salt and lemon then
• Toast the curry powder in a teaspoon of butter for 30 seconds before adding for a more aromatic, complex flavor
• The soup keeps two days in the fridge; whisk before serving to redistribute any cream that has settled

Variations

• Add a few stalks of fresh tarragon or dill to the simmer for a more herbaceous version
• Swap chicken broth for vegetable broth for a vegetarian cold soup
• Garnish each bowl with creme fraiche and a drizzle of chili oil for color contrast on the plate