Annabel Langbein’s Aquafabulous Mayonnaise

This vegan mayo truly is a miracle, and to my mind tastes even better than the traditional egg-based kind. You wouldn’t believe it would work without egg but it does! The brine found in cans of chickpeas and other legumes (called aquafaba) has amazing properties that allow it to mimic egg white - you can even use it to make meringue. During the legumes’ cooking process, starches, proteins and other soluble plant solids migrate from the seeds to the water. This gives aquafaba a wide spectrum of emulsifying, foaming, binding, gelatinising and thickening properties.

Ready in 5 mins, makes 1¼ cups

Ingredients

• 1 cup neutral oil
• 3 tbsp of brine from a can of chickpeas
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• ¾ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp fine white pepper

Method

Place all ingredients in a tall jug, sink a hand wand mixer to the bottom of the mixture and whizz until thick and creamy (about 10 seconds!). Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

To find out more about aquafaba and for more recipes to use up all those chickpeas see annabel-langbein.com.

This recipe is extracted from Annabel Langbein's new spring / summer annual A Free Range Life: Celebrate Summer!