Steamed Asparagus with Sauce Maltaise ('Spargel mit Sauce Maltaise')

Prepare the asparagus:

Trim off the woody ends of the asparagus, about 1 inch from the bottom. Peel the white asparagus and leave the green asparagus unpeeled. In a steamer, steam the asparagus over high heat for about 10 minutes until tender. Feel free to adjust the steaming time to your preferred consistency.

Prepare the sauce:

While the asparagus is steaming, prepare the sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepot over medium-low heat. In another pot, heat plenty of water until lightly simmering, then turn off the heat. Put a metal or glass bowl on top of the hot water bath and add your egg yolks together with 3 tbsp water and 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice. Whisk the mixture on top of the water bath until it turns creamy and thickens slightly. Take the hot bowl off the water bath and begin slowly drizzling in your warm melted butter. If your sauce is about to break, whisk in 1 tablespoon of cold water and continue drizzling in more butter. Once all the butter is incorporated, add the blood orange juice and a pinch of blood orange zest. Add lemon juice and salt to taste. If the sauce is too thick for your liking, adjust the consistency of it by adding in more water or blood orange juice. If the sauce is too thin, incorporate more butter. Return the finished sauce on top of the water bath to keep it warm until your asparagus is ready.

To finish:

Once the asparagus is cooked, season it with Fleur de Sel to taste. Arrange on a plate and drizzle with the sauce.