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Hello, this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with cured egg yolks three ways. That's right. I am so glad I finally tried these and I'm very excited to show you the three versions I experimented with, which included a hot honey, a chili crisp, and a garlic butter. And not only were these fun and delicious to make, they were also surprisingly easy. In fact, the hardest part turned out to be deciding which one was my favorite. And to get rolling, we'll start with our honey cured version, which only requires one ingredient, which of course would be honey. And what we'll do is transfer some into the bottom of our jar before we transfer our egg yolks over.
Speaking of which, I think the easiest way to separate the yolk from the white for most people, especially if you can't crack an egg with one hand, like I'm showing off by doing here, is to simply crack them all in a bowl and then fish them out with your fingers. Okay, if you can crack it with one hand, you can just crack it into your hand and start separating from there. But anyway, we'll shake that white between our fingers, moving it from one hand to another if we need, until that white completely separates from the yolk, at which point we'll very carefully transfer that on top of our honey. Oh, and if there's one of those little white things attached to the yolk, which is called a chalaza, we'll want to
go ahead and try to pull that off as well. But anyway, I went ahead and transferred four yolks in. And yes, I did drop the last one on top of another one, but nothing broke. Or it just looks like it because of refraction. And that's it. Once our egg yolks are in, to make a hot honey version, we will sprinkle over a very, very generous amount of cayenne, or any other hot pepper, of course. And then besides spicing this up, I decided to add a little bit of fresh thyme, which I think is always a beautiful pairing with honey. And once that was in, we'll take the rest of our honey and drizzle it over the top. Oh, and when choosing a container, we want something that fits all our yolks in one layer and where they're kind of snug, but not overly
packed together because we want to be able to get a spoon in there eventually without damaging the outside. And that's it. We'll pop on the lid and transfer that into the fridge to cure for anywhere between two and four days, depending on how firm you want them. And that is it for version number one and we'll move on to version two, which is going to be our chili crisp cured eggs, which is way easier to make than say. And what we'll do is spoon our favorite chili crisp or chili crunch into a bowl. And then to that, I'm going to add a little bit extra olive oil just to up the oil content without increasing the spiciness. And then I also added some sugar as well as a splash of soy sauce
since it's salt and/or sugar that cures the yolk. And while there could already be enough in the brand you use, I think it's good to hedge our bets. And once we've stirred all that together, just like the honey version, we'll put a little bit at the bottom of the jar so that our yolks are surrounded completely. And once those are placed in, we'll top it with the rest of our mixture. And by the way, feel free to add in any other appropriate spices or seasonings here. All right, like I said, it's the salt and sugar that does the work and everything else we add is just for flavor. So, if you want to get creative, go ahead.
I mean, you are after all the Shawn and Jen of the most delicious thing that comes out of a Han. And by the way, those are the makers of the chili crisp I used and they're both food wishers from way back. But anyway, once we have those covered, we will close this up and we will transfer that into the fridge for about three days or again, until it's cured as much as we want. And that's it. While version one and two are curing in the fridge, we'll move on to our final and fastest version, which will be garlic butter cured egg yolks, although confit is probably a better term since we're using heat and not salt or sugar. And after we add a stick of butter to a heat-proof ramekin or baking dish, we will transfer in a couple cloves of
sliced garlic and we'll pop that into a 200° oven until our butter's just melted, at which point we'll give it a stir. And then, just like the other two versions, we'll transfer in our four yolks. And then, you probably don't have to, but since this came with a lid, I'm going to go ahead and pop it on for an even slower, possibly more gentle heat transfer. And we'll pop that back into our 200° oven for about 45 minutes to an hour or until our yolks are cooked to the perfect level of doneness. And the time is really going to depend on what you use to cook them in and your oven. So, be sure to test these early and often. And what we're looking for is something that's not too hard or too soft, and
will sort of spring back to the touch and feel kind of rubbery. And once that is feeling just about right, we can go ahead and plate it up by possibly toasting a nice piece of ciabatta bread, which we will, of course, drench with our garlic butter. And once that was accomplished, I topped it with a generous grating of real Parmesan cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano. And once that was thoughtfully dusted, I transferred on a yolk, which could not be any more gorgeous. And then, since I used unsalted butter, I topped this with a little bit of sea salt, followed by some freshly ground black pepper, and finally, a little bit of chopped Italian parsley. And practically speaking, it's probably easier if you spread the yolk on the toast first, and then top it with your
other garnishes. But, I was going for max presentation. And that's it, we'll take a knife and spread that over. And if you did cook it to the rubber ball stage, it should spread out just like an egg yolk jam. And that, my friends, is every bit as amazingly delicious as it looks. Okay, what we have here basically is the best garlic bread you've ever had, topped with that unctuous egg yolk jam. And as far as the taste, texture, and appearance goes, I could not have loved this any more. So, the fastest version we're doing, which as I said is more like a kulfi, was a complete and total success. But, we have two more to try. So, I pulled out the hot honey cured yolks, which have been curing for 2 days, and we'll go ahead and spoon one out. And
after 2 days, it feels similar to the garlic butter version, but slightly softer. Because after 2 days, about 1/3 of the yolk inside is still going to be slightly runny. And if you are going to go for a third day, I probably would flip these over for a more even cure. But, I've decided I'm a 2-day guy. So, I went ahead and generously buttered some toast, and then spooned over some of that hot honey from the jar, which yes is thinner at this point, because water's been pulled out of the yolks as they cure. And once honeyed, I transferred over the yolk. And I dripped a little more honey over that, just to shine things up. And I followed that with another dusting of cayenne, because why not? And then as I grab a knife and cut it and spread this over,
you're going to see what I was talking about. Okay, roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of the yolk is still going to be a little bit runny, which I actually think is perfect. Once it's mixed into the more cured yolk, and then spread all over together like this, we end up with a texture I find very luxurious. But again, if you want it fully cured, just let it go for another day. And that's it. I finished up with a small sprinkle of sea salt, since an egg yolk really does have to be seasoned to reach full deliciousness. And while the flavor profile was totally different, this hot honey cured yolk was every bit as good as the last version. And if you ever hear anyone say,
"There's nothing better than butter and honey on toast," I want you to interrupt them and say, "Yeah, I think there is." Oh, and for one additional serving idea, I basically did the same thing on top of some French ham. And I finished with some sea salt and some fresh thyme leaves. And believe it or not, that one was even more delicious. So, we are two for two. And we'll go ahead and pull out our chili crisp version, which after 3 days in this mixture, felt most similar to the garlic butter version.
Okay, still soft and jammy, but pretty much fully cured. Although these did end up a little bit flatter, which might have something to do with the oil content. And I served that up on a toasted everything bagel spread with cream cheese, because that's how Chef Stephanie Izard serves them. And if she does it that way, you know it's a good idea. And for this one, I don't think we need any garnish. Right? Maybe just a little more of that chili crisp and oil spooned over the top. Although I think some slivered green onions would be nice. So, go ahead and add some of those if you want. But anyway, yes, you guessed it. That was just as delicious and amazing as the first two versions. And since this was so spicy, it worked
perfectly with that cooling cream cheese. So, if you're keeping score at home, we're officially three for three. And for as delicious and beautiful as these are, they really do require very little effort. Okay, if you can manage to separate some egg yolks, they pretty much just make themselves. And whether you just do one of these or all three versions, I really do hope you give this a try soon. So, please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much more info as usual. And as always, enjoy.
