Back in the day I used to love mayonnaise. So creamy and delicious and so good on everything from sandwiches to wedges. You can buy vegan mayonnaise and it's good but it can be very hard to find. It's also pretty damn expensive, particularly when a hungry child armed with a packet of rice crackers can polish off an $8 jar of mayo in a single sitting.
A little while ago a very clever (or perhaps very bored) person discovered that the liquid that surrounds tinned chickpeas and beans is full of protein and acts a lot like eggs in cooking. Don't ask me how they discovered it but bean water, when beaten, will turn into something that looks very much like meringue. They call it aquafaba (water + bean) and you can find heaps of recipes online that use it in everything from meringue to nougat. You can use the liquid from any tin of beans, but in my experience the lighter beans are best. Try to find beans with as little added salt as possible and definitely don't try to make meringue with baked beans because instead of soft peaks you'll just end up with a blender full of tomato sauce.
However, the best thing about bean water is that it can be used to make the most fabulous mayonnaise. I feel as though I'm in a pretty good position to judge the quality of this mayo because since discovering it I've eaten enough to fill a bath tub. It's really simple and completely delicious.
A little while ago a very clever (or perhaps very bored) person discovered that the liquid that surrounds tinned chickpeas and beans is full of protein and acts a lot like eggs in cooking. Don't ask me how they discovered it but bean water, when beaten, will turn into something that looks very much like meringue. They call it aquafaba (water + bean) and you can find heaps of recipes online that use it in everything from meringue to nougat. You can use the liquid from any tin of beans, but in my experience the lighter beans are best. Try to find beans with as little added salt as possible and definitely don't try to make meringue with baked beans because instead of soft peaks you'll just end up with a blender full of tomato sauce.
However, the best thing about bean water is that it can be used to make the most fabulous mayonnaise. I feel as though I'm in a pretty good position to judge the quality of this mayo because since discovering it I've eaten enough to fill a bath tub. It's really simple and completely delicious.
All you have to do is drain the liquid from a tin of beans. For every three tablespoons of bean water (or liquid gold, as you'll soon be calling it) add a tablespoon of either lemon juice or vinegar (we use apple cider because apparently it can cure everything from worms to cancer – only kidding, we just like the taste), a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of mild mustard. You might need to add salt but you can do that later because how much you add depends on how salty your beans are. Put that in a blender and give it a whirl then very slowly, with the blender running, drizzle in some mild tasting oil. We started the last batch we made with nine tablespoons of bean water and we ended up using just over a cup of oil. The more oil you use, the thicker it will become. So keep checking your mayonnaise and stop adding oil when you like the look of it. Add some salt if required.
It's not exactly low fat, but then foods that are packaged as low fat are usually so full of sugar and weird additives that you probably wouldn't want to eat that crap anyway.
It's not exactly low fat, but then foods that are packaged as low fat are usually so full of sugar and weird additives that you probably wouldn't want to eat that crap anyway.
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