Mayo with egg whites: the recipe

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I told you we were going to discuss again about mayo & co! :)

I read about the possibility of making a mayo without yolk and decided to attempt a little experiment. As described in this post, eggs provide the emulsifying molecules (lecithin and proteins) that are crucial in the formation of mayo. Given that egg whites contain about 50% of egg’s proteins, they can be employed as emulsifiers.

So, how did that mayo turn out? Very well, actually (for the recipe, go at the end of the post), but...there are a few pros and cons...let’s see them:

Pros: with only egg whites, you will get a lighter mayo deprived of cholesterol that is contained just in the yolk. However, keep in mind that the decrement in calories is minimal: egg yolk brings about 60 Kcal, while most of the fats (OK, vegetable fats, but still fats...) are in the oil. Therefore, egg white mayo is still a highly caloric condiments: think about that if you are on a hypocaloric diet.

Cons: the egg white mayo is less tasty than the original one. Moreover, as you can see from the photo, the color is very pale due to the lack of the pigments contained in the yolk, as carotenoids and lutein.

Below the recipe, if you want to try it. Maybe, you can use it to recycle the egg whites left from other recipes ;)

 
 

Mayo with egg whites

  • 2 albumens
  • 200 g of sunflower seeds oil
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • A pinch of salt

Place all the ingredients in a tall and narrow container (the one coming with the immersion blender). Blend everything with the immersion blender for no more than 10 sec with movements from the top to the bottom. Let me know if you like it :)

References:

Hervé This, Pentole e provette, Ed. Gambero Rosso, 213-213.

Hervé This, Les précision culinaires, Ed. Quae-Belin, 114-117.