New Garnishing Technique - Salt Cured Egg Yolk!

The food & drinks world is interlinked on many different levels. The bartending industry regularly borrows inspiration from chef's & restaurants. One of the coolest techniques that we're NOT using though are salt-cured egg yolks! In an industry that goes through so much egg white per week & just throws away the yolk this just doesn't make sense. In a world where we're all trying to be more sustainable, more economical & use all our ingredients to the fullest of their ability here's a new recipe that you can try!

The earliest written record of salting duck eggs is around 1600 years ago…in book called “Essential Techniques for the Peasantry” (“齊民要術”) Written by Jia Sixie (賈思勰), a sixth century AD governor during the Northern Southern Dynasties (南北朝). Interesting that one of the oldest techniques in Chinese cooking became the obsession of chef's & bartenders everywhere!

RECIPE PREPARATION

Whisk salt and sugar in a medium bowl to combine. Evenly spread out half of salt mixture in an 8x8" glass baking dish. Using the back of a tablespoon, create 4 depressions in salt mixture, spacing evenly. Carefully place an egg yolk in each depression. Gently sprinkle remaining salt mixture over yolks and tightly wrap dish with plastic. Chill 4 days.

Dehydrate at 60C for 6 hours. Brush salt mixture off each yolk, then carefully rinse under cold water to remove any remaining salt (yolks will be semi-firm, bright, and translucent). Gently pat dry with paper towels.

Dry out in dehydrator until opaque and texture is like a firm Gruyère cheese, 1½–2 hours. Let cool. (Alternatively, if your oven doesn’t go that low, you can dry out eggs in an unheated oven for 2 days.)

Finely grate cured egg yolks over soups, pastas, or salads as you would a hard cheese.

Do Ahead: Yolks can be cured 1 month ahead. Place in an airtight container and chill.

For those interested in the final look find a YouTube recipe below: