Salted egg yolk sauce
A versatile, easy creamy salted egg yolk sauce recipe that can be used for tofu, chicken, pork, prawns and so much more!
Servings: 1 dish
Equipment
- Pan and heat-proof spatula
- sieve or blender/ food processor, optional if you really, really, really want the smoothest possible sauce
Ingredients
- 4 salted egg yolks Don't throw the whites! See post for salted egg white recipe ideas
- 4 Tablespoons butter Some people use margarine instead- if you do, you will need to add cream or milk to make the sauce rich.
- 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 large sprig curry leaves, leaves removed from stem Use both th leaves and stem when cooking the salted egg yolk sauce, but remove the stem before serving as it's too tough to eat
- 1-3 red chilli padi, sliced Substitute with large red chill if not good with spice
- ½-1 teaspoon white granulated sugar, or to taste
- Salt or fish sauce, optional depending on how salty your yolks are
Instructions
- Steam the salted egg yolks on medium heat for 15-20 minutes (fresher eggs cook faster), or microwave them on high for 2 minutes. Mash well till not clumpy. (As mentioned in the tips, those are fanatical about a smooth sauce can push them through a sieve or blend them.)
- Over low-medium heat, melt the butter in a pan.
- If you are going to use the salted egg sauce immediately, now is the time to add the garlic, curry leaves and chilli padi, which I highly recommend. Stir fry till fragrant. (Alternatively, if making the sauce to store in the fridge, skip the curry leaves and chilli till when adding the tofu/ prawns/ chicken/ pork etc.)
- Reduce the heat and add the cooked salted egg yolks from Step 1- the sauce will start bubbling and frothing. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the sugar and salt. Note that the amounts given are a guide only as different brands or versions of salted eggs will have different amounts of salt, and thus require different quantities of seasoning.
- Stir-fry for 1-2 more minutes. Your sauce is now ready for whatever ingredient you are using it with, such as fried chicken or popcorn. If you forgot to sieve earlier and would be terrible upset by a not-so-smooth sauce, you can run the rich and buttery salted egg yolk sauce through a food processor now before using.
Notes
If you want a super rich sauce, add some milk, condensed milk or cream at Step 5 (i.e. 1-2 minutes after you add the salted egg yolks to the butter.) If you're wondering what it'll taste like- think of the Cantonese Liu Sha Bao.
If you like really unusual dishes, scoop some over a bowl of vanilla ice-cream!
Tip: if you have too many yolks, you can grate 1 (after steaming!) over a plate of pasta or risotto, like you would with parmesan!