TanakaSan – Tom Douglas Restaurants

For the pancake:
½ cup rice flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup water
1 egg
¼ t pepper
½ t salt

Mix all the ingredients together to make a thin batter.

1 bunch fresh Washington asparagus
1 sweet onion
1 bunch green onions
canola oil

Snap the woody bottoms of the asparagus. Cut in half lengthwise, then cut into 2” or so length pieces. Julienne sweet onion. Cut green onions into pieces around the same length as the asparagus and sweet onion. Mix the vegetables together. Toss with enough batter to lightly coat.

Preheat nonstick or nice cast iron pan over medium high heat, add a good glug of canola oil. Heat until shimmering and almost smoking. Lay a thin, lacy layer of batter coated vegetable to cover the bottom of the pan. When it is golden brown and you can see the batter is at least half way cooked, flip and continue cooking to crisp the bottom. This should be fast to not overcook the asparagus. Flip one more time to re-crisp the presentation side, and serve golden brown, crispy side up. Cut into squares and serve with dipping sauce.

For the dipping sauce:

1 cup dashi (instant is fine, prepare according to direction on the box)
¼ cup mirin
¼ cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger

Mix well and serve.