Cured egg yolks are one of my secret ingredients for a plethora of dishes. Many people I cook for just think it’s some cheese grated over, and are shocked to find out I actually cure my own egg yolks. In this instructional guided article I’m going to show you how to make cured egg yolks at home so you can elevate your meals!
The easiest go-to dishes that benefit from grating over some cured egg yolks are definitely savory ones. I’m talking pasta, stew, mashed potatoes, tray-bakes. However one of my favorite things to add cured egg to is actually vanilla ice cream. Really these homemade cured egg yolks are an easy way to add a punch of umami flavor to dishes…what’s not to love!
Best Eggs For Cured Egg Yolks?
When making cured egg yolks at home the type of egg isn’t really all that important. Chicken eggs are the easiest, but duck eggs are also great if you can find them. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend an ostrich egg (too big) or quail eggs (too small) but the science is there if you wanted to give it a shot.
How Long Does It Take To Cure Egg Yolks?
2 months. I know, that seems like a long time, and may be off-putting to people who want to try it now, but that’s just what it takes. Of course some people go shorter, but I like my final product as hard as a block of Parmesan.
You can however use the whites immediately, in things like cocktails or in dishes like my egg white fritatta.
Cured Chicken Egg Yolks
For these instructions I’m using chicken eggs, but feel free to use duck if you wish. The method is the same. Fill the bottom of a container with a layer of salt at least half an inch thick (a little more than 1 cm). Next take your egg and use the wider side to make little divots as seen above.
Separate the yolks from the whites and place the yolk carefully into the divots. If the membrane breaks it will not work, as the salt is bringing out the moisture through the membrane by a method known as osmosis.
Carefully pour salt over all the yolks, cover with a lid (or plastic wrap if you need to), and place in the refrigerator for one month. If your yolks are small you may get away with 3 weeks.
One Month Later
After a month your egg yolks are half cured, and ready for the next step. Just carefully break away the salt crust and lightly brush off any large chunks of salt. It is okay if there is still some salt though, as it still helps with the next step.
Place all the cured egg yolks in the center of a paper towel. You can also use a cheesecloth if you prefer, but I’m partial to paper towels. Pull the corners together to make a sachet.
Hang the sachets up in your refrigerator to air dry for another month. This can be tricky depending on the type of fridge you have, so I have to hang mine from the egg shelf.
What Do 2 Month Cured Egg Yolks Look Like?
After a month in the fridge you can take out your eggs to use. You can rinse them off with some water to get rid of the excess salt, or not. It’s up to you.
Where To Use Cured Egg Yolks?
One of the best things to use cured egg yolk on is pasta! I especially love how it goes with my delicious rabbit ragu pasta mafaldine. Sure, it takes almost 5 hours, but that’s nothing after waiting two months for some cured eggs.
How about egg on egg on egg? That’s what it’s like grating some of your homemade cured eggs over eggs benedict…or should I say eggs royale in this case.
Did you know you can cook with cured egg yolks? Try putting some grated yolk inside these tasty spinach and mushroom turnovers! People will ask you what’s the secret.
But Wait…What About The Whites?
I really hate wasting food. Like, I try to use everything I can somehow. Luckily there’s plenty of options for what to do with the leftover whites. Using an egg white in cocktails has over a hundred year history, and plenty of the best recipes call for them. If you like brandy then try my blue sidecar, it’s delicious.
There are also quite a few egg white based desserts you can make, like peach coconut macaroons, or my strawberry walnut meringue cookies.
Cured Egg Yolks
Equipment
- Container
Ingredients
- 6 Egg Yolks
- Salt like…a bunch
Instructions
- Pour the salt into a sealable container so it covers the bottom by about half an inch (little more than a centimeter)
- Use the egg shell to make indentations into the salt bed without going to the bottom of the container.
- Separate the yolk from the white and place the yolk into the indentation being very careful not to break the yolk. If it breaks this will not work.
- Cover the yolks with more salt, cover the container, and place in the fridge for one month
- After a month take the half cured yolks out of the salt crust. Brush off any large chunks of salt and place each yolk into a paper towel. Fold the paper into a sachet and hang in your fridge for another month.
- After 1 month hanging in the fridge your cured egg yolks will be ready to use. Just grate them over any dishes you want to give a kick to. I suggest using a microplane, but a standard cheese grater will work as well.
Notes
