Spicy Vegetable Broth with Asparagus and Shiitake Mushroom Wonton, Petit Fours Silk Tofu (China)

For the vegetable stock, cut the onions in half with the skin and roast them in a pan lined with aluminum foil until dark brown. Press the garlic cloves with the skin on. Clean, peel and roughly dice the celeriac, carrots and parsley roots. Clean the leek and fennel and cut into large pieces. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and stew the vegetables in it for four minutes. Top up with four liters of cold water. Add onions, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, coarsely chopped parsley and thyme. Bring the broth to the boil and cover it over a medium heat for at least an hour (to approx. 2 liters). In the meantime, cut the chilli in half lengthways. Peel the ginger and cut into thin slices. Mash the lemongrass stems with a heavy pan. Briefly sauté everything in 1 tablespoon sesame oil and add to the vegetable stock. Simmer gently for another 15 minutes over low heat. Then pass the stock through a tea towel or a very fine sieve and season with salt and possibly a little pepper.

For the wontons, let the dough sheets thaw. Finely chop the clove of garlic, clean the mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms (from the can: drain well), dice and sauté everything in 1 tablespoon of hot sesame oil. Then deglaze with soy sauce. Take the mushrooms out of the pan and let them cool down. Lay out the wonton sheets side by side, put 1 tablespoon of mushrooms on each piece of dough. Spread a thin layer of water on the edges of the dough, fold the dough into semicircles and press the edges firmly.

Cut away the woody ends of the asparagus. Whole white asparagus, peel only the lower third of the green stalks. Slice the asparagus at an angle. Clean the spring onions, cut diagonally into as thin slices as possible.

Heat the broth, add the wonton and asparagus pieces to the simmering broth and cook in it for about 3 minutes. Divide the wontons and asparagus in deep plates, pour the stock over them, drizzle with sesame oil and serve sprinkled with spring onions.

For the petit fours, drain the silken tofu and cut into ten bite-sized cubes of the same size, if possible. Clean and finely slice the radishes. Place the tofu on Chinese spoons, drizzle with marinade and top with radishes. Serve with the soup.