There’s something fascinating about finding a new to you food prep, and realizing that so many people have known about it, thus leaving you in the dark, and not caring one bit about your feelings. That’s how I feel about these salt cured eggs. Yes. You read that right. Salt cured eggs. Essentially, eggs that have had all of the moisture removed from them, and perfect for grating on top of soups, salads, pastas, tacos, whatever tickles your fancy.
It doesn’t take anything fancy. Just egg yolks (NO WHITES!) salt, sugar if you don’t want them fully salt cured, and a deep dish to use. That’s it. I know that I searched cookbooks, and the internet alike, and some people do a finish for at least 30 days in the refrigerator, while others finish in the oven at 150 degrees. Listen, the world is your oyster. This is all about preference. I finished mine in the refrigerator with cheesecloth wrapped around so that they could dry naturally.
I know that when I posted the initial photo of me starting them on Facebook, I got a lot of intrigue, including one person calling them gross, but that’s what happens when you share food choices on Facebook.
If you don’t have a yolk separator, then get one. You can do it with your hands, but you run the risk of having too much egg white in the salt, AND breaking the yolk. Something which is okay when you’re mixing it into a batter, or dough, but not so much when you’re needing them to stay wonderfully globular.
Start with 1 3/4 cups of salt, 1 1/4 cups of sugar, 9 egg yolks, and a 9×13 dish to settle them in. You need to create wells in the salt/sugar mixture to nestle the egg yolks in properly. I only had one casualty, and even that ended up being okay.
You can see the yolk that didn’t stay rounded in the foreground. Still not bad looking if I do say so myself.
These bright orange yolks will be so pretty topping all of the food that I’m dreaming of. A IG comment is tempting me to make mushroom tacos this weekend just to see how well the egg melts into the mushroom. So much goodness I can imagine. Use it to top pastas, rice, salads, tacos, your very own gourmet topping that YOU can make.
So tell me, have you ever salt cured eggs? How do you like to use them? Connect me to ways that you do, and I’ll make sure to check them out.
Salt Cured Eggs
Dehydrated egg yolks for topping soups, salads, and other foods.
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups of kosher salt
- 1 and 1/4 cups of sugar
- 9 egg yolks
- Nonstick spray
Instructions
- Whisk salt and sugar in a medium bowl to combine. Evenly spread out half of salt mixture in an 8x8" glass baking dish. Using the back of a tablespoon, create 9 depressions in salt mixture, spacing evenly. Carefully place an egg yolk in each depression. Gently sprinkle remaining salt mixture over yolks and tightly wrap the dish with plastic. Chill 4 days.
- Preheat oven to 150°. Brush salt mixture off each yolk, then carefully rinse under cold water to remove any remaining salt (yolks will be semi-firm, bright, and translucent). Gently pat dry with paper towels.
- Generously coat a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray; place yolks on rack. Dry out in oven until opaque and texture is like a firm Gruyère cheese, 1½–2 hours. Let cool. (Alternatively, if your oven doesn’t go that low, you can dry out eggs in an unheated oven for 2 days.)
- Finely grate cured egg yolks over soups, pasta, or salads as you would a hard cheese.
Notes
Adapted via Bon Apetit
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
48Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 14Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 1770mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 1g
You inspire me to create food items that I would never think to make.
I need these in my life.
This is how it came about for me!! I just saw strawberry pasta and I’m intrigued.
I have a question. Do you think there is enough of the salt/sugar mixture to allow me to use yolks from my duck eggs, which are larger?
I would just use less egg yolks Andrea. Maybe 4 instead of 9. That should do it. And you can also reuse the salt/sugar mixture as long as the yolks don’t break, and you dry the salt out again.
Wow! Now this is something I can honestly say I’ve never seen before. This is amazing, I must try it!
This is a new one to me, but guessing you might hear that from others. Always good to branch out and try new things, just might be a new favorite thing.
Ok, this is something I’ve never heard of. I’m undecided on whether I’d want to try it or not. What else would you use it on?
This is fascinating. I have never heard of this before. Definitely going to have to give this a try.
I have honestly never heard of this being done. It’s very interesting and I’m really wanting to try it out. I really want to get that yolk separator. Even if I don’t make this right away, I know that going to come in handy with any recipe that requires separating yolks from the whites.
I’m going to try this with quail egg yolks. Now raising my own quail, so I’m interested in seeing how this turns out. I’ll set some up in my dehydrator and some in my unheated oven (which does not go down to 150 F. Looks enjoyable!
A friend made these and gave me some to sample. Rich and lovely! Now I have an abundance of eggs and will be trying this soon along with dehydrated eggs. My question is, how to store the salt dried eggs and how long do they keep?
You can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.