The thick, creamy, cold French mayonnaise sauce has many variations. Its basic version is made with just four ingredients, but even they can be very different. If you consider that you can add a few more to them, it becomes clear that the popular sauce is an inexhaustible source of culinary experiments.
Basic mayonnaise recipe
Classic mayonnaise is made from egg yolks, vegetable oil, lemon juice and salt. Initially, mayonnaise was whipped by hand, with a whisk, but the easiest way to do this is with a blender. You will need:
- 4 egg yolks;
- 1 tbsp. l. white wine vinegar;
- 550 ml of olive oil;
- finely ground sea salt.
Place the yolks in a clean, dry blender bowl, add the vinegar, and beat on medium speed. Add a little olive oil, whisking until a stable emulsion forms. Add salt. The sauce is ready.
If the mayonnaise is too thick, add a little warm water to it.
Mayonnaise variations
A common but not required additional ingredient in mayonnaise is mustard. It not only makes the sauce more piquant, but also stabilizes the emulsion. Olive oil is more often used, but both sunflower and soybean oil are suitable for mayonnaise, as in commercial versions. The taste of mayonnaise with mustard oil or nut butter turns out to be interesting. Both chicken and quail eggs are suitable for mayonnaise, it is not necessary to take only the yolks, you can take whole eggs. This sauce turns out to be less saturated in taste and not so sunny yellow. An exotic sauce is obtained based on goose or duck eggs. The acid can be used as vinegar - wine, table, apple or, as in the case of the Japanese version, rice, and lemon juice. Also, the composition of mayonnaise often includes herbs, garlic, black or red pepper; honey gives the sauce an interesting taste.
A popular blend of mayonnaise and ketchup is called in the west either Russian dressing or Marie Rose sauce.
Lean mayonnaise
Lean or vegetarian mayonnaise is very popular. It can be made with both soy milk and soy tofu. For the milk sauce, take:
- 1 glass of vegetable oil;
- ½ glass of soy milk;
- 1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice;
- ½ tsp. dry mustard;
- a pinch of salt.
Whisk the soy milk and lemon juice with a blender. Whisk for about 30 seconds, until the mixture thickens, add salt and mustard, beat lightly with a fork.
For tofu mayonnaise you will need:
- 150 g soft soy cheese;
- 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice;
- 2 tsp dijon mustard;
- 1 glass of vegetable oil;
- a pinch of salt.
Beat the tofu, lemon juice and mustard with a blender, add a little vegetable oil, achieving an even, smooth mixture. Season the sauce with salt.
