I wanted a mayo condiment for a tuna dish I was making (see later post). I had some cedar chips, and had been thinking a lot about smoked food lately, so I decided to try making a smoked mayonnaise. This was a tricky proposition. Mayo is an oil-in-water emulsion, and can be temperature-sensitive; raising the temperature too high can cause homemade mayo to break down. But I gave it a shot.

I made some mayo using an egg white and slowly drizzling in peanut oil. Once I had a nice quantity of emulsified mayo, it was time for the smoking. I'd already smoked a handful of cedar chips in water. I drained them and put them in the bottom of a big pot. I got them smoking over a high flame, then turned the heat down, added a steamer basket to pot, then put the metal bowl of mayo directly onto the steamer basket. I closed the lid of the pot and let the smoke infuse the mayo. After two or three minutes, there was plenty of smoke, so I turned off the heat and let the chips smolder. I didn't want it to get too hot in the pot, lest the emulsion break. Finally, I brought the pot outside so as to keep the house from getting smoky as the smoke escaped little by little.

After around fifteen minutes, I tasted the mayo and decided it could use a bit more smokiness. I gave it a stir and added the lid again. The chips were still smoking just fine. I left it for another ten minutes then tasted it again. It was perfect, with a nice smokiness, and that particular piney cedar flavor. Delicious. I put it in a squeeze bottle and used it with yellowfin tuna, cucumber, and soy sauce. The rich, fatty, smokiness of the mayo was the perfect accompaniment to the raw fish and cool cucumber. Mmmm.

No pictures. It just looks like mayo. Picture at right.

Posted by Barzelay on 2008/09/21 @ 23:17 | Comments (1) | Sauces, Condiments

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