Mayonnaise
One yolk holds a surprising amount of oil, as long as you add it slowly enough. Five minutes, and it fixes if it breaks.
- Prep
- 10m
- Cook
- —
- Total
- 10m
- Serves
- about 1 cup
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 1 | Whisk together until smooth 2m Everything at room temperature. Cold yolk and cold oil emulsify badly. | Add the oil drop by drop at first, then in a thin stream 7m The first quarter is where it breaks. After that you can speed up considerably. | Season and loosen with a little warm water if too stiff 2m | |
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 1/4 tsp | ||||
| 1 cup | ||||
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| 1 tsp | ||||
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Whisk together until smooth
2m- egg yolk 1
- Dijon mustard 1 tsp
- lemon juice 1 tsp
- fine salt 1/4 tsp
Everything at room temperature. Cold yolk and cold oil emulsify badly.
-
Add the oil drop by drop at first, then in a thin stream
7m- from 1 Whisk together until smooth
- neutral oil 1 cup
The first quarter is where it breaks. After that you can speed up considerably.
-
Season and loosen with a little warm water if too stiff
2m- from 2 Add the oil drop by drop at first, then in a thin stream
- lemon juice 1 tsp
- warm water (optional) 1 tsp
What is actually happening
Whisking shears the oil into droplets a few microns across. Lecithin from the yolk coats each droplet and stops them merging back. There is far more lecithin in one yolk than a cup of oil requires — the limit is not the yolk, it is how fast you add the oil. Add it faster than you can break it up and the droplets coalesce, which is what “splitting” is.
Fixing a split
Put a fresh teaspoon of mustard, or a new yolk, in a clean bowl and whisk the broken mixture into it drop by drop, exactly as if it were oil. It comes back every time. Nothing is wasted.
Notes
- Not extra virgin olive oil. Emulsifying it releases bitter compounds.
- Twist a damp cloth under the bowl so it stays put and you keep both hands free.
- Keeps a week in the fridge, no longer — the yolk is raw.