How to make Hollandaise sauce

How to make Hollandaise sauce

How to make Hollandaise sauce

8 December 2014

How to make Hollandaise sauce

Hollandaise is an indulgent, buttery sauce that is an essential component of eggs Benedict but equally heavenly with asparagus, salmon or new potatoes. The sauce is an emulsion of egg yolks and liquid butter flavoured with lemon juice, salt and a little cayenne pepper and is notoriously difficult to get right. The trick is to heat the eggs enough so they thicken but no so much that they curdle. Our easy recipe below will help you achieve perfect results every time.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

  • 150ml of white wine vinegar
  • 1 banana shallot, finely sliced
  • 1 sprig of thyme
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 200g of butter, melted
  • salt
1
Place the vinegar, shallot, thyme and peppercorns in a small pan and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer until reduced by half
2
Place a large bowl over a pan of simmering water and add the egg yolks. Whisk until they have doubled in size and add 2 tablespoons of the vinegar reduction
3
Remove the bowl from the heat and very gradually add the butter
4
Season the hollandaise to taste with the salt. Serve immediately. If you prefer it to be more acidic you can add a squeeze of lemon juice

Serving suggestions

For Hollandaise sauce inspiration see Anna Hansen's Tea-smoked Alaska salmon, poached eggs, spinach with yuzu Hollandaise, Marcus Wareing's Crab Benedict and Geoffrey Smeddle's Feuilleté of poached quail's egg with Hollandaise sauce. Salmon and asparagus are also natural partners for this velvety sauce – see Graham Campbell’s Steamed salmon fillet with asparagus spears and red onion Hollandaise for the perfect combination of flavours.

Get in touch

Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.