Asparagus, Mango, and Apple in a Creamy Tofu Dressing

Shira-ae literally means “dressed in white.” As the name implies, this salad is tossed with a creamy white dressing, which is made from firm tofu and ground white sesame seeds. Traditional ingredients in the salad include flavored and simmered carrot, hijiki sea vegetable, spinach, and chrysanthemum leaves. Here I use asparagus and fresh fruit.

In the past, all the sesame seeds for this dressing were freshly toasted and then ground to a fine paste in a suribachi