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EAT THIS
HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE
HUFFINGTON
09.29.13
1 egg yolk (separate it from the whites), 1 level tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar, black pepper,
3/4 cup vegetable oil (you may not need all of it, so it’s ok if you’re a little short), water, if needed, to thin out the mayonnaise
1. M
ake sure all ingredients are at room
temperature. Let them sit out for about 1 hour,
but not much longer.
GETTY IMAGES/CULTURA RF
2. C
ombine the egg yolk, mustard, salt, vinegar,
and a few shakes of pepper in a stainless steel
bowl and whisk for 20 seconds.
3. To stabilize your bowl, twist a hand towel
into a cord and form a circle with it on your
countertop. Place the bowl in the middle of
the towel’s circle.
4. S
tart incorporating the oil into the egg
mixture, drop by drop, whisking continuously
until there is an emulsion. Seriously, when we
say drop by drop, we mean DROP BY DROP.
You cannot do this too slowly. It won’t take
you longer than 2 or 3 minutes, we promise.
Once an emulsion is formed, add the rest
of the oil in a thin, steady stream as you
continue to whisk rapidly. You’ll know an
emulsion is formed when it looks creamy —
like mayonnaise. The mayonnaise will start off
a yellow color, and it’ll get whiter and whiter
as you add more oil. Finish adding oil when
you get it to the stage you prefer.
5. I f you add too much oil and make your
mayonnaise too thick for your liking, just whisk
in a tiny bit of water to thin it out. Otherwise,
you’re all done! Your gorgeous homemade mayo
will keep up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
A NOTE
FOR SCIENCE
GEEKS:
Wondering
which
ingredient
in mayo
is the key
emulsifying
agent? It’s
the egg
yolks. In the
kitchen, egg
yolks are
the most
common
emulsifying
agent due to
the presence
of lecithin,
which is also
found in soy.
Egg yolks
have two
properties:
1) lipophilic
— affinity to
fats and 2)
hydrophilic
— affinity to
water. These
properties
enable them
to bind oil
and vinegar
together
in a stable
mixture.