Last week I taught a cooking class at Sur La Table in San Francisco. On the menu were Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches. At home, I typically use whole egg (full fat!) mayonnaise. However, for the class I wanted to offer students a super authentic experience. So we made fresh mayonnaise. I used to make mayonnaise from scratch when I was a kid and our family was in a homemade banh mi jag, and then lots more when I worked at City restaurant in Los Angeles. Making mayonnaise is not a regular thing for me these days, but when I revisited and started tinkering with homemade mayonnaise last week, I rediscovered that it’s gosh darn easy to make.
No wonder Vietnamese cooks took to making mayonnaise for banh mi sandwiches – the creamy French emulsion requires just a few ingredients – egg yolks, acid, salt, and oil. The yolks and acid (lemon juice and or vinegar) are blended together and then the oil is slowly incorporated so that the mixture becomes emulsified and creamy. As for the mustard, you can omit if you want.
Many beginner cooks fear making homemade mayonnaise but the simple recipe below is failsafe. You won’t “break” (separate) the yolks from the oil if you take care to blend the ingredients carefully. The machine does most of the work.You're pushing the buttons and slowly pouring in the oil. Even if you’ve got good mayonnaise in the fridge, try whipping up a batch of this stuff and do a side-by-side tasting! I have lots of mayonnaise in the fridge right now and when the jarred stuff runs out, I’m switching to making my own!
A few points to keep in mind:
Are raw egg yolks safe?
According to award-winning author James Peterson in his amazingly comprehensive book, Cooking: 600 Recipes, 1500 Photographs, One Kitchen Education, contracting salmonella from raw egg yolks is really hard to do. You have to eat about 20,000 raw yolks. Instead of the raw yolks below, you can use pasteurized yolks or pasteurize them yourself. My feeling is that the acid in the mayonnaise not only helps to emulsify the mixture but also to kill bacteria, thus lowering your chances of getting salmonella even further. If you regularly eat Caesar salads, know that it’s the raw egg yolk that makes the dressing extra good! Use super fresh eggs in all of your cooking. That’s just a good rule of thumb.
What kind of oil to use for mayonnaise
I prefer canola oil as it’s neutral and I like more egginess. Some people love corn oil because it gives extra richness. Resist using extra virgin olive oil as it has an odd tendency to turn bitter. If you want olive oil in there, add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to the oil below. For that matter, you can add sesame oil, a good toasty peanut oil, or some other kind of flavorful nut oil!
Whisk vs. blender vs. food processor
Whisking is indeed the slow approach but it takes forever. I've blended but it has sometimes not work for me. In the end, I'm sticking with the food processor, which works perfectly like a charm to create creamy, fluffy mayonnaise. If you just have a blender, go for it.
RECIPE
Mayonnaise
Sot Mayonnaise
Along with the tip above of adding flavored oil to the recipe, try flavoring mayonnaise with different Vietnamese herbs, chile garlic sauce, black pepper, curry powder, whatever your fancy. For making banh mi sandwiches, I keep the mayonnaise simple as there are many other elements going on. Feel free to use lime juice instead of lemon juice. You can use 1 whole egg instead of the 2 yolks but the flavor isn’t as rich.
Makes 1 generous cup
2 egg yolks
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons unseasoned rice or white wine vinegar
1 cup canola oil
1. Put the egg yolks, salt, mustard, lemon juice, and vinegar in the food processor. Pulse 4 or 5 times to combine well.
2. Remove the feed tube, if it is still in place. Run the machine and pour the oil through the feed tube in a thin (less than ¼ inch wide), steady stream until completely incorporated. The mixture will thicken as the oil gets worked in, and the sputtering will diminish by the time the sauce becomes super thick and creamy (photo below). It should take 2 to 3 minutes to add the oil.
If the mayonnaise seems overly stiff, work in water by the teaspoon. Taste and adjust the flavor for extra salt and mustard, pulsing the machine to blend the ingredients. Transfer to an airtight container, cover, and refrigerate for up to a week month(!).
How to fix broken mayonnaise [update 4/28/09]
This happens on occasion. Tab's comment below got me thinking about it. For me personally, my most common mistake is adding the oil too quickly. Some people say that the oil should be tempered at around 70F but most of us keep our oil at room temp so that shouldn't be the source of the problem, for the most part. When mayonnaise breaks (it is not thick and creamy), there are a number of solutions you can try. It never hurts because otherwise, you'd have to throw it away so why not experiment?
1. Whisk 1 or 2 egg yolks in a small bowl and set aside. Then, put the broken mayonnaise in another bowl and start whisking it. Now add the egg yolk in a very steady, slow stream. Egg yolk, according to food scientist Shirley Corriher in Cookwise, is a fabulous emulsifier and stabilizer. Hopefully, the yolk will bring the mayonnaise into the thick realm. (Another method suggests 1 egg yolk and a little vinegar, say ¼ teaspoon, then work that into the broken mayonnaise.)
2. Whisk 1 teaspoon of mustard and 1 teaspoon of the broken mayonnaise together and then, slowly whisk the broken mayonnaise into that mixture.
3. One suggestion for broken mayonnaise that’s NOT pure liquid is this: whisk in 1 teaspoon of hot water at a time.
I'm not a food scientist but can see that to save broken mayonnaise, you have to figure out how to get it to emulsify, which brings us back to its original definition as an emulsion. Remember to add the oil slowly. Don't hurry.
Related Links:
- Banh Mi recipe -- how to create your own version
- Vietnamese Baguette -- how to make terrific bread using the food processor
- YouTube video -- Precious Albright's recording of her 84-year-0ld grandma making homemade mayonnaise with an electric mixer. Note the use of a single beater to mimic a whisk!
Von
This brings back memories of me as a teenager working at my family's FOB restaurant (the kind w/ the Formica tables and folding chairs). One of my duties was to make the mayo for the banh mi. However I did not use a food processor or blender, I used a hand held mixer in one hand while drizzling the oil with the other while mixing. I think I was dozing off or daydreaming most of the time while making it since I had to make so much of it and it became soooo monotonous. That just tells you how easy it is to make!
I don't recall ever using an acid in it though but it did taste fantastic, very creamy, rich and yellow! I had to make it often because it didn't stay fresh very long, maybe it was because we didn't use an acid?
I have not made it in over two decades now. I think I'm still too scared to revisit 🙂
precious
I'm putting together a short video of my grandma making her version which doesn't have the acid, but does have garlic. Mmmmmmm! It's nice and yellow, too. I had to do the video instead of asking her to write down the recipe becuase when I make her recipes, they don't come out right.. 1 part this, 3 parts that, you get the idea.
Fresh mayo on a baguette - I could eat it every day!
Andrea Nguyen
Von -- by hand for a restaurant production work? Oh my... you must have developed big arm muscles!
Precious -- garlic would turn your grandma's mayo toward the aioli school. Sounds good. A soft yellow color is due to the egg yolk. When I made the mayonnaise with whole egg, the result was decidedly white. Some people say to use corn oil, which is more yellow than canola and thicker in viscosity. I imagine that that would have an impact on the result. What kind of oil does your grandma use?
precious
She used canola oil.
Tangled Noodle
Oooh! You've answered any concerns I had with making homemade mayo. I'll definitely try this - thank you!
Andrea Nguyen
Precious -- canola. She must have had really nice yolks or maybe used lots of them.
tab
I guess I added the oil too quickly and my mayonnaise did not thicken. It is too thin.
How can I thicken it????
Andrea Nguyen
Tab, your experience prompted me to add info in the posting. Hope it helps!
Neeka
How long can this mayo last in the refrigerator?
Janet
I tried doing this with a "electrical handmixer" (the electric thing with two whisk attached) and the texture came out ok but my sauce tasted SOUR 🙁 i tried adding more eggs and oil to balance it out but it didn't work
Thanh Viet
The trick: take the egg yolk, put the mustard and let it out for a while. Everything has to be at the same temperature. Then you can even mount the mayonnaise with a fork! I use to do that since I was 10 y.o., and you can turn upside down the bowl.
Guppy Taro
This is the same recipe my cafe uses. 🙂
The moment you taste the mayo you will never buy store-bought again.
I've tried to make this mayo at home so many times but it never comes out right. I always mix it well so it produces a nice creamy thick texture but the taste is horrible. At first I thought it must be some metallic taste obtained through my food processor, so I whisked it by hand and still nothing. I've tried altering the taste afterwards with lemon juice, salt, sugar....
Please can someone tell me why my mayo is turning out so wrong when I use the same ingrediants and method. 🙁
Andrea Nguyen
Guppy Taro -- not sure about the problems that you're having. I use uniodized table salt, Trader Joe's Dijon mustard, Costco canola oil, farm fresh egg yolks, and fresh lemon juice, and Mizukan rice vinegar.
Are you using freshly squeezed lemon juice? The stuff in the plastic containers at markets is awful tasting.
dieu
I tried making this but it was very liquidy, I'm not sure if I did something wrong. On the food processor feature, am I to use the pulse feature only?
Michelle Vu
Wonderful recipe. I read it last night and went to the kitchen to find the ingredients. I needed rice vinegar so I decided to wait until today. I have tried to learn the tricks to make this many times and have tried it many times but it never came out right from other recipies and ended up dumping it directly to the trash.
Today the first time I made this using your recipe and it came out perfect. Thank you.
Before I left for work today, I ended up ordering two cook books you wrote from Amazon. I feel confident with your recipies since the ingredients you use are 99% the same as my mom uses. I get the books since I want my little daughters to have references when they grow up and know how to cook Vietnamese foods like I make for them everyday and my mom for me when I was young. Thank you for having these recipies made possible for Vietnamese American kids to understand and to be able to make those wonderful and authentic dishes.
Andrea Nguyen
@Michelle Vu: Thank you. It's my pleasure. Happy cooking!
Wendy Miller
I've been making homemade mayonnaise for over 10 years using a stick blender. I place the egg in the bottom of a narrow mixing container, place the seasonings (vinegar, lemon juice or lime juice, salt, mustard, garlic, etc.) on top of the egg then pour the oil over the top of that. Then place the blender in the container on top of the egg then turn it on (don't turn it on until it is on the bottom of the container). When it starts to look like mayonnaise start pulling the blender up until it is all mixed. This method is so easy because I typically mix it in the same container in which it is stored. I rarely purchase mayonnaise any more and it is so much better than anything you can buy.
Wholesale Food
Although I always enjoyed the every recipe posted over here but this one is special for me. I always buy mayonnaise from market which is expensive and I just like its taste , never tried to make it at home or don't even know about all its ingredients. Thanks for money saving delicious recipe.
Regards
Avelina
Miff
when i tried this and it came out great UNTIL I refrigerated it, then it became hard. I thought it was frozen but it wasn't but when i put it on the counter for 15 minutes it turned runny again and the emulsion broke. The Kraft i have in the fridge doesn't do that (in the same place) can you tell me what went wrong and how to fix the problem?
Please email the reply as well as post here.
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Mrnguyen
im gonna try this love the sandwiches but very hard to emulate and find a good recipe that taste like the shop, i dream of banh mi thit!
Video Surveillance
very easy and even more healthy than common mayonnaise.
A good option to do it at home!!
anuran
Once you've made real mayonnaise you'll never be able to put Kraft of Hellman's in your mouth again.
dee
Hi Andrea, I tried to make mayonnaise today and it broke. Then I tried t fix it and it didn't work. Egg yolk, mustard, hot water... my mayonnaise stayed the same. liquid. Then I watched precious' video and saw my mistake: I added the oil to quickly. Have to try again I guess.
Lucky
I have a question about homemade mayo.
I have been making my own for 3 years now in order to avoid the salt and chemicals found in store-bought brands. On two different occasions, the mayo developed a grainy texture the day AFTER I made it. It was still thick and not at all loose; however, it was like fine sand was mixed into the mayo.
My recipe is:
-In a food processor, add 1 whole large egg + 1 tsp dry mustard + 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice + 1/4 cup canola oil. Pulse until combined.
-With the food processor running continuously, add 3/4 canola oil through the drip chamber until the emulsion is complete.
The resulting mayo is always thick, creamy and tasty. Twice however, the mayo turned grainy overnight in the fridge.
What is this graininess, and why is it happening?
Thanks!
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Mayonnaise is one of the safest products you can bring to your next picnic or event. It also contains Vitamin E and heart-healthy oils. You may have heard some of the fallacies about this versatile condiment, such as mayonnaise should never be left on the counter or that a jar of mayonnaise shouldn’t be left in the sun, but these are common misconceptions that are just not true. We’d like to enlist your help to spread the word about mayonnaise!
More than 60 years of research has proven that commercially prepared mayonnaise does not cause foodborne illness. In fact, these commercial products are carefully prepared with ingredients such as vinegar, lemon juice and salt to create an unfriendly environment that slows and even inhibits the growth of bacteria and, indeed, can kill it. Commercial mayonnaise and mayonnaise-type salad dressings also contain pasteurized eggs that have been heat treated to destroy harmful bacteria and ensure product safety, so you can be sure about inviting mayonnaise to your next picnic or gathering.
lurch
kosher salt is always a better option....also it seems just after reading that an entire cup of oil is a bit much..
D
I've never made mayonaise before because it always seemed so intimidating. i remember watching a WHOLE episode on food network's good eats with alton brown and was flabergasted at how lethargic the process seemed. i tried your recipe and it took me MINUTES to do, and came out really well! I used extra virgin olive oil for personal preference. I will seriously not buy mayo again. This is cheaper, and healthier without all the chemicals/modified ingredients like the store kinds have..plus its the perfect amount. Thank you for this recipe!!
Tessa Domestic Diva
Thank you, worked like a charm, and Oh so delicious!! My first batch failed and then I found your tips and found out i was adding the oil too fast!
anonymouse
hi
i've made mayonaise succesfully at home many times, but something strange has happened........the last 3 attempts have failed. why why why
asian
hhmmm....never had a problem like urs before. I just use plain stainless steel hand whisk and a lipped ladle for drizzling. Ur idea was superb and never had thought of it. Wow! is all i can say.
I whisk the mustard, acid ( lemon juice/ vinegar) and the egg yolk first. Then drizzle the oil and ensure emulsification. Dont stop beating or when it separates, stop the oil and beat till they emulsify. If it is too thick, add a lil acid. Mixed well and season.
I love homemade mayo as we can play with it. add a lil dry sauteed or baked curry powder and it turns into a wonderful dipped for a lot of food.
marlon
very easy and even more healthy than common mayonnaise.
A good option to do it at home!!
Keri M. Castillo
I make my mayo using a balloon whisk; however the other day I learned from experience that I over saturated the mayo by over whipping my egg yolk. This over saturation according to my chef causes the molecules not to bond to the oil and the mayo to break. When I asked if I should try to fix it by adding another yolk like we do with Hollandaise I was told no because most times the molecules will not bind with the oil and it's faster to just remake it, which I did!
Like you said there are so many factors that can break a mayo and one of biggest culprits is indeed the oil being added way to fast. I use a squirt bottle to add in the oil because it controls the flow of the oil and helps with the emulsification process.
Just my two cents!!
amy
Oh man, so delicious! Thank you
Vinh
Your comment of "contracting salmonella from raw egg yolks is really hard to do", well check out this story about 51 salmonella cases linked to banh mi.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-21/raw-eggs-product-blamed-for-salmonella-outbreak/10832812
Andrea Nguyen
The story you point to details how to mitigate the risk. These are all basic cooking and hygiene issues:
"It's important to check that eggs are clean and not cracked or dirty — and those that are should be thrown out.
"Preparation surfaces and utensils should be thoroughly washed, sanitised and dried after handling eggs, and remember to think of raw eggs like raw meat, and wash your hands thoroughly after handling them."
The bakery cited as having the problem had problems back in 2015. Yikes, they did not learn a good lesson!
I would not let this incident deter me from making mayonnaise at home. If such issues are a concern, use pasteurized egg for mayonnaise. I handle my eggs safely and keep things clean in my kitchen.
Here's a short piece from the New York Times about risks associated with raw eggs in mayonnaise: https://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/the-raw-egg-conundrum/
This discussion is really great too: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/33212/room-temperature-rest-for-fresh-mayo
Kim Anh
Hi Andrea, what kind of food processor do you use?
Andrea Nguyen
I use the Cuisinart 11-cup plus: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AXM4WIK/ref=psdc_289920_t4_B01AXM4VFE
It's pretty solid and affordable.
Sylvia
Hi Andrea! Thanks for the inspiration, we have been social distancing in Hong Kong and so I just made your mayo, but used a combo of grapeseed oil and avocado oil, delish! I added 3/4 tsp mustard powder because i wanted a more mustardy flavor, but will stick to without next time around for a more purist approach. I hope you all are well and safe!
Andrea Nguyen
Nice touch on the mustard powder. I suppose you could use wasabi powder, too? So great of you to cook and write from HK. It's one of my favorite places. Take care.