How to Make Mayonnaise/Aioli

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HOW TO MAKE MAYONNAISE & AIOLI

Call it a sauce. Call it an emulsion. Both are correct. We call mayonnaise an indispensable condiment when it comes to improving things like sandwiches, salads, French fries, and chilled shellfish. Here we outline the basic technique for making mayonnaise, as well as aioli, which is simply flavored mayonnaise. Garlic is the most common, but you can flavor aioli any way you like. We offer three iterations below: blood orange, chile, and white truffle aioli.

HOW MUCH OIL & WHICH ONE TO USE?

The amount of oil a single egg yolk can emulsify is the subject of ongoing debate. Some people/books will tell you not to go above a half cup per yolk, others will say you can go up to a cup, but no higher.

In the food science tome On Food and Cooking, author Harold McGee writes: “A single yolk can emulsify a dozen cups of oil or more. What is critical is the ratio of oil to water…for every volume of oil added, the cook should provide about a third of that volume in the combination of yolks, lemon juice, vinegar, water or some other water-based liquid.”

Pretty much any oil can be used to make mayo/aioli as long as you take the flavor of that oil into account. We’ve used grape seed, olive oil and vegetable oil and blends of oils with great results. McGee doesn’t recommend using extra virgin olive oil as the sole oil in your mayo/aioli (though as a smaller part of an oil blend to add flavor it should be fine), because the compounds that give EVOO its different mouth feel, stronger flavor and lower smoke point can make emulsions unpredictably unstable.

MAKING MAYONNAISE BY HAND

Whether you make mayonnaise and aioli by hand or in a food processor, the results are similar. Hand whisking requires more elbow grease and a little more time, but you have finer control, don’t run the risk of the machine running hot and breaking your emulsion, and don’t have to clean a food processor afterwards.

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INGREDIENTS
  • 2 egg yolks (the freshest possible for better emulsification)
  • A splash of vinegar (we used champagne vinegar)
  • A pinch of salt
  • Neutral flavored oil as needed (grape seed oil, olive, or canola oil) although fine flavored olive oil may be used instead.

DIRECTIONS

1

Whisk together the egg yolks.

2

Add your flavoring ingredients (for plain mayo, use a splash of white/champagne vinegar and a pinch of salt) to the yolks & whisk to combine.

3

Optional: place a thin towel over a large pot and use it as a rest for the bowl. This makes it easier to whisk while drizzling.

4

Start drizzling the oil into the yolks in small drops, while whisking constantly. As the mixture starts to come together, you can start adding the oil in larger quantities.

5

Continue whisking in oil until you reach your desired consistency. If you add a little too much oil, try adding a touch of water to get the yolks to grab the extra oil.

6

Taste & add salt, and additional acid (lemon juice, vinegar, etc.) as needed. If the aioli is too thick, but you don’t want to add additional acid. you can also thin with a little water. (At this point, you can also fold in any flavoring ingredients to make aioli.)

Variation: MUSTARD & CIDER VINEGAR AIOLI

In step 2 above, add 1 tbsp whole grain mustard, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar & a pinch of salt. Add 1 tsp of chopped fresh chives in step 6.

MAKING MAYONNAISE IN A FOOD PROCESSOR OR BLENDER

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 egg yolks (the freshest possible for better emulsification)
  • A splash of vinegar (we used champagne vinegar)
  • A pinch of salt
  • Dry mustard to taste
  • Water as needed
  • Neutral flavored oil as needed (grape seed oil, olive, or canola oil) although fine flavored olive oil may be used instead.

DIRECTIONS

1

In a food processor or blender combine the egg yolks, a little dry mustard, vinegar, salt, and water as needed to give the mixer enough mass to work with.

2

Blend on high speed until the ribbon stage has been reached (the eggs will be a lighter color and flow back on themselves with momentarily visible shapes).

3

Continuing to blend, start to drizzle in the oil (slowly at first) in order to form an emulsion. The more oil you add the thicker the aioli/mayonnaise will become. (The lecithin in a single egg yolk can emulsify up to 8 oz of oil.)

4

Your mayonnaise/aioli will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge. Be sure to cover it tightly so the fat doesn’t absorb flavors from the other items in your refrigerator.

AIOLI RECIPES

Follow the food processor mayonnaise directions above, using additional ingredients as described below.

BLOOD ORANGE AIOLI

This aioli will be thinner than most and suitable for use as a dip. We use this in our recipe for Chili Marinated Bison Kabobs with Blood Orange Aioli. The recipe can be easily modified to use other citrus fruit.

INGREDIENTS

(in addition to normal aioli)

  • 1 garlic clove
  • Blood orange juice
  • 1 whole blood orange (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1

Replace the mustard in step 1 with half of a small garlic clove, add blood orange juice as needed after step 3.

2

(optional) Cut the whole blood orange into supremes and blend or fold into the final aioli.

CHILE AIOLI

Any dried peppers can be used in this recipe. You may want to vary the amounts based on the heat of the chilies. We like to spread chile aioli on our Kobe Beef Burgers with Carrot Fennel Slaw.

INGREDIENTS

(in addition to normal aioli)

  • A pinch of lemon juice
  • Reconstituted dried chilies, stems & seeds removed (we used ½ a dried Chipotle pepper and 1 dried Aji Panca pepper)

DIRECTIONS

1

Replace the vinegar with the same amount of lemon juice and add the reconstituted dried chilies in step 1. Blend slightly longer in step 2 to make sure the chilies are chopped.

WHITE TRUFFLE AIOLI

This is easily the world’s most gourmet mayonnaise. It’s a great way to make our specialty burgers even more incredible, or blow your foodie friends’ minds by slathering some on our Braised Beef Sandwich.

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp champagne vinegar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/8 oz white alba truffles (could also substitute white Oregon truffles)
  • 1 cup of oil (we used ½ cup olive oil & ½ cup grape seed oil)
  • Sea salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

1

Put the mustard, vinegar, egg yolks, truffles and 1 large pinch of salt in the food processor. Blend until combined and the eggs have reached the ribbon stage (lighter in color and flowing back on themselves with momentarily visible shapes).

2

Slowly begin to drizzle in the oil(s) while running the processor until a smooth mayonnaise consistency is reached.

3

Taste for seasoning and add more vinegar, if needed, and salt to taste.

For a variation see: LEMON, CHIVE & WHITE TRUFFLE AIOLI RECIPE >