Honestly, sometimes I wonder if Hollandaise wasn’t created by some sadistic Chef looking for yet another way to torment apprentices, home cooks, and anyone else who dared to desire it. Even though it is essentially mayonnaise, there are about a million things that can go wrong with it, and, yet, there is only one acceptable way for it to come out. It must be thick, it must be creamy, it must be yellow, it must be SAFE, it must be a certain temp, not too hot, not too cold, you can almost make it break just by looking at it wrong. On the other hand, it is delicious.
Nowadays, people have accumulated a number of passive aggressive rationalizations for not using it. It’s too rich, all those yolks, all that butter, it’s so passé and old fashioned, nobody makes it any more, and so on. Anything to avoid admitting that they want it, but they are just so over jumping through hoops trying to get it to come out. Many “quick and easy” methods have been developed to avoid the endless stirring and worrying and watching, but most of these shortcuts either don’t work, or are just as much trouble as the old way, even more. Lots of dirty dishes, extra bowls, boiling water, whips, not to mention tear soaked Kleenex. You can buy it in a can, or even as a powder, both of which bear very little resemblance to the real thing. I had pretty much resigned myself to the idea that it was just one of those things, no way to fake it without noticing the difference.
Okay, electric whips and hand blenders help you avoid the strain of whipping, would that that were the most serious problem. It’s the ANXIETY that eventually sinks us, the bane of all cooks, that impatient, nihilistic voice in the back of your mind that reassures you that this is NOT gonna come out the way you WANT it to.
So. Since everything other than the real thing is gonna be ersatz anyway, why not make it as simple as possible, eliminate as much of the annoying components as possible? I pondered this for a few minutes, and decided to give this Jury Rig a shot.
Ingredients:
1 – egg (whole). that’s right. WHOLE. For Hollandaise that is even MORE yellow, use one egg YOLK only.
1 – stick of COLD butter. 4 oz, DO NOT MELT.
2 – tablespoons lemon juice (don’t leave this out, it’s part of the chemistry)
pinch of salt (you can adjust this later)
Procedure:
- Preheat your SV vessel to 183F
- Crack the egg (or yolk, see above) into a Ziplock quart bag, add the butter, the lemon juice, and the salt.
- Seal the bag. You don’t have to remove the air.
- Put the bag in the tank for half an hour
- Remove, set on the counter and let it rest for a minute, so it’s easier to handle.
- Dump the bag out into a narrow container, like a drink glass so that a stick blender just fits into the bottom.
- PULSE, and watch, as the egg on the bottom slowly pulls the butter down into it.
- DON’T LIFT THE BLENDER UP. Keep pulsing, and then, TILT the blender a little bit to pull the remainder of the butter into the sauce.
- If there’s still a little butter on top, you can stir it in with a spoon, and then taste it. It’s going to be hot–about 170F. Serve immediately, or you can keep it, it won’t break until it goes below 120F, although it may get somewhat thicker.
That’s it. With a little bit of attention to technique and practice, you’ll be making perfect Hollandaise Sauce.
The post Hollandaise Sauce Sous Vide, the Easy Way appeared first on Sous Vide Resources.