Woke up and decided to funk up the humble egg yolk. I had a couple of dishes planned and a funky egg yolk would sex things right up. Two techniques came to mind. A confit again—that worked well last time. Also, I wanted to have a go at curing a yolk.

Why just the yolk? Because I think the white is a bit meh when the egg has been soft-boiled, fried or poached. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not dissing the white. Whites have their own magic—fluffy and aerated, or as a binding agent. But the party is most definitely happening in the yolk. Think about it. The runny yolk of a soft-boiled egg—perfect for dipping soldiers. The syrupy centre flowing from a poached egg into the Hollandaise of your Eggs Benedict. The sticky gloop dripping from a bacon and fried egg sarnie. That’s still the ultimate hangover cure. The luxurious mouthfeel of a perfectly cooked oozy yolk is so gratifying. Rich, indulgent goo. Earthy flavour. Mmmm. And let’s not underestimate the effect of that sublime shape and vivid colour; we eat with our eyes too.

Wait until you’ve tried a cured yolk.

Curing as a form of food preservation obviously prolongs shelf life. It also concentrates flavour and changes the texture. And it’s so easy to do. Combine equal measures of Maldon sea salt and caster sugar. 200g each is more than enough for 4 eggs. Put two thirds of the mix into a Tupperware. Use a clean, unbroken egg to create indentations in the salt. Carefully place a yolk into each indentation then cover entirely with the remaining salt and sugar. Lid on and refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 5 days. Gently recover each yolk, rinse under trickling cold water and pat dry.

More time in the cure yields a firmer yolk. 5 days and you’re approaching something akin to Bottarga. It may be necessary to dehydrate the yolks in a low oven for several hours to really harden them up. I like the sound of an egg yolk that can be grated. I think it’d be a tasty and good looking garnish on certain plates, like over a carbonara. Hm. This goes on the must-do list.

The first dish was duck ham. A duck breast I’d cured for 24 hours in sea salt flakes, black peppercorns, fresh thyme and crushed juniper berries then hung in the fridge for 12 days. To go with it, it had to be a duck egg. I went for a soft-cured yolk. After 16 hours I got a glossy, chewy exterior surrounding an unctuous gooey centre. Bloody gooood! Must do more charcuterie plates. So, if you like eggs, you need to softly cure an egg yolk. I dare you not to love it.

And then there’s confit.

I think the best way to confit an egg yolk is to sous vide. Heat the water bath to somewhere between 62C and 65C depending how you want the yolk; a lower temperature means a runnier yolk. Carefully plop the yolks into a vacuum bag, cover with oil, and seal. Or use a resealable bag and the displacement method. Cook for 1 to 2 hours. The yolks can hang out in the oil in the water bath for another 2 hours before they get too thick. You can buy another couple of hours by lowering the temperature to 60C.

That said, my preference is to dip a deep metal gastronorm pan into the water bath. The pan contains about 5cm of oil, which is enough volume to support convection and deep enough to insulate the surface for even cooking. The pan sits in the bath so that the water level is above the oil but doesn’t spill into the pan. I secure a corner of the pan at a corner of the water bath. The lips of the pan on 2 sides are placed over the edges of the bath and taped in place. I then cover the water bath and pan with cling film. The flat bottom of the gastronorm helps separate the yolks during cooking. When the yolks first go in, carefully stir the oil, moving the spoon in between the yolks so each one gets a good coating. Don’t crowd the pan.

It is possible of course to use an oven but temperature tends to wander in domestic ovens. Sous vide provides consistency and control. Nevertheless, if oven is your weapon of choice, preheat it to 65C, fill a deep oven tray with 4 to 5cm of oil, add the yolks one by one, and cook for 55 minutes.

The second dish was a take on ham, egg and chips with a punchy purée of Piccalilli. Pow! The ham was slow-baked in a bran crust at 110C for 4 hours which produced super juicy meat with a nutty flavour. Wow! The chips were technically Pommes Mignonettes. How pompous does that sound? Basically, potato oblongs measuring 50 by 5mm. The yolks were cooked sous vide for an hour in rapeseed oil at 64C. And they came out a right humdinger. No observable thick skin so no chewiness, but I think they look more regal than the cured yolk. Still got the thick runny centre though. So yum.

Needless to say there were ham leftovers so running with the theme I thought I’d do something with ham, egg and cheese. Play time! I came up with a raviolo filled with ham, a confit egg yolk and a divine Sauce Mornay made with aged Comté cheese. The inside of the raviolo wasn’t elegant to look at but it was certainly tasty, and delicious with shredded spring greens and pea purée. If I was to have another go I’d like to refine the presentation. Anyway, that’s for another day. Right now I’m thinking steaks—with a soft-cured yolk and a confit yolk cooked in bone marrow to see which is best. Should be fun.

Sexy egg yolks