Hollandaise sauce – a savoury light yellow opaque smooth, buttery and creamy sauce made from an emulsion of egg yolk and melted butter, typically seasoned with lemon juice to give it a mild tang, and salt and white pepper or cayenne pepper.
It is best known as a key ingredient of Eggs Benedict and also goes well with vegetables (such as steamed asparagus) and fish.
There are variations to the ingredients and techniques to make this sauce, but the THREE key ingredients needed to make a basic Hollandaise sauce are egg yolk, butter and lemon juice. Then you can season with salt, white pepper or cayenne pepper. Some chefs also add in ground nutmeg or paprika.
Our recipe is a basic Hollandaise sauce recipe using only five ingredients (egg yolks, melted butter, freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt and cayenne pepper), and can be ready in under 20 minutes. All you need is some arm power as you need to whisk the egg yolks, lemon sauce and butter. We find using a wire whisk manually is sufficient, but if you prefer, you can use a handheld electronic mixer on low speed.
Ingredients
Hollandaise sauce (A) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 4 | QL Omega egg yolks | |
| 2 tbsp | freshly squeezed lemon juice | |
| 100 g | butter | |
| Pinch of salt (or to taste) | ||
| Dash of cayenne pepper or white pepper | ||
Egg veggie salad (B) | ||
| 4 | QL Omega eggs (room temperature) | |
| 1 | Japanese or local cucumber, deseeded and cut into 1 cm cubes | |
| 1 | small red capsicum/bell pepper, cut into 1 cm cubes | |
| 1 | small yellow capsicum/bell pepper, cut into 1 cm cubes | |
| 1 cup | sweet corn kernels, steamed or blanched for 3 – 4 minutes | |
Method
- Melt 100 g of butter in a small heavy-based saucepan on low heat. Turn off heat when half of the butter has melted. The residual heat in the hot saucepan will continue to melt the butter. Leave aside.
- Whisk 4 egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice (you can reduce to 1 tablespoon you like it less tangy) with a wire whisk in a double boiler or a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan with simmering water on lowest heat possible. Make sure the bottom of the bowl or double boiler does not touch the simmering water or your eggs may scramble.
- Continue to whisk vigorously until the mixture becomes pale and creamy.
- Drizzle in the melted butter slowly and continue to whisk until the sauce is pale and thickened.
- Remove from heat, whisk in pinch of salt (or to taste) and dash of cayenne pepper (or white pepper).
- Cover and leave in a warm spot (or in the same saucepan you double boil the bowl) until ready to use.
- Fill a small saucepan with water until about two third full. As soon as the water is boiling, put in eggs gently. Make sure the eggs are fully covered by the water.
- Set the timer to 7 minutes immediately after you put in all the 4 eggs. When the timer rings, remove the eggs with a slotted spoon or straining ladle and immediately transfer into a bowl of ice water, leave aside for about 5 – 6 minutes.
- In a salad bowl, mix all vegetables evenly. Divide equally onto 4 plates.
- Peel off the eggshells and cut the peeled eggs into half vertically (the egg yolk will be still runny). Place each cut egg on the pile of vegetables and drizzle Hollandaise sauce over the eggs and vegetables before serving. If the Hollandaise sauce is too thick, whisk and thin out with a few drops of warm water.
QL Kitchen Tips:
- You can use other raw vegetables such as tomato, jicama (sengkuang), or carrot cubes in the salad as well. You can also mix in fruits such as green apple and grapes.
- If you like your eggs to be hard boiled, boil longer for another 3 – 5 minutes, soak in cold tap water before peeling off the shells.
QL Omega & QL Deli Fresh eggs are available at major hypermarkets and supermarkets. For more information on QL Eggs, click here.
