You may well be thinking “mayonnaise… such a simple thing to purchase at the supermarket, so why bother making it myself?”
Ah well yes indeed. Normally, it’s very, very easy to pop down the supermarket and pick from a whole range of mayonnaise brands that will do the job adequately enough.
However:
- firstly, homemade mayonnaise is said to be far better in terms of taste
- secondly, homemade mayonnaise recipes are controllable, thus if you wish to focus on healthy mayonnaise production you can easily do so
- and thirdly, I can’t get a decent mayonnaise where I live. Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise is about as good as it gets, and it’s fairly bland stuff I can tell you. I tried adding lots of garlic, some Tabasco sauce, as well as some ground black pepper. Yup, much better! But still it remains, I must try to formulate my own mayonnaise at home. And because I adore spicy food, my first mayonnaise recipe is going to be spicy, spicy!
To the forefront is calamansi which is a Filipino fruit similar to a small lime. This replaces the lemon in my own version of a homemade mayonnaise recipe
So what do we need and how do we go about making us a beautiful homemade spicy mayonnaise? (The image above represents a few of the items I’ll be using, including a small fruit local to the Philippines (in the forefront) called calamansi (similar to a lime), which will provide me with a type of lemon juice au natural, if you will).
Keep in mind that we have two ingredients that do not normally go well together, making mayonnaise something of an emulsion. We’ve got the oil and we’ve got the egg yolk. By mixing them both slowly together, it works fine. However, it’s best to take the egg out of the fridge at least an hour prior to preparation because the emulsion works better if the ingredients are at room temperature.
The French like a good strong flavourful mayonnaise where you may not. If that’s the case, don’t use extra virgin olive oil or regular olive oil. Instead opt for a mild olive oil or combine half olive oil with half sunflower oil.
Should the mayonnaise split whilst mixing, don’t worry about it. Simply add a fresh egg yolk to a new bowl then slowly whisk in the split mix.
- 1 large egg yolk*
- 1 clove garlic, minced extra finely
- 3 small chilli padi (or ½ tbsp Wasabi; or 2 jalapeños (depending on size)), chopped
- 1½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice (I’m using calamansi instead – see above)
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt (more if you wish)
- ¾ cup olive oil
- Combine egg yolk, minced garlic, chopped chilli padi (no need to take out the pith or seeds), lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, Tabasco sauce, ground black pepper, and ½ teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Whisk until blended and bright yellow, which should take about 40 seconds.
- Using ¼ teaspoon measure and continually whisking, add ¼ cup olive oil to yolk mixture a few drops at a time, over a period of about 4 minutes.
- Gradually add the remaining ½ cup of oil in a very slow, thin stream, whisking continually, until mayonnaise is thick.
- This process should take about 8 minutes.
- Cover and chill.
- * Be careful when using raw eggs. Due to the risk of salmonella, raw eggs are not recommended for pregnant women, elderly folks, young children, and anyone with a weak immune system. It’s perfectly fine to use pasteurized egg yolk instead.
Chefs note: for marie rose sauce, simply add one tablespoon of tomato ketchup. Yummy!
The mayonnaise should keep in the fridge for about four days.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for posting the homemade mayo recipe, I would love to try this one . Congrats on your new food blog site. You’ve got a new fan
Hi Calleigh, congratulations on being the first person to comment on the site! Hope the mayonnaise turns out well for you. Fun times ahead, no doubt!