At Sunday’s Grand Opening of the Downtown College Park Farmers Market Ferhat Yalcin, owner of College Park’s own Fishnet, stopped by for a cooking demo. Ferhat used fresh ingredients from the market to make a delicious asparagus soup that patrons were able to sample.

If you’d like to impress your family and friends, here’s the ingredient list and directions:

 Ingredients

• 6 bunches of asparagus
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• 2-3 spring onions
• Bonito flakes (for fish stock, which you should be able to find in asian markets)
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste

 Directions

• Peel the asparagus half way down to the bottom. Cut the spears and keep them separately for use later.
• In a deep pot, bring water to simmer and add a handful of bonito flake. Let the water simmer, but make sure it doesn’t boil.
• Chop the spring onions and sautee them lightly.
• After 10 minutes, filter the water and disregard the flakes.
• Add the cut pieces of asparagus and cilantro in the water and bring the water to medium heat. Let simmer.
• Add the chopped spring onions to the water.
• Simmer for 20-25 minutes, then put the pot ingredients in the blender and run until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Asparagus spears can be sauteed lightly to give them a little crunch.
• Place spears in serving bowl/cup and add soup.