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Substitutions for egg yolk in a sauce?

post #1 of 6
3/3/10 at 2:25pm
Thread Starter 
Hello everyone.  I'm making
"Enchiladas Rojas de Aguascalientes"
from Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cuisines of Mexico for a dinner party.  I've made the recipe before and it was very successful, but this time I'm making it for a group that includes a vegetarian who cannot eat the egg yolk in the sauce.  The sauce calls for:

4 Ancho Chiles
1 1/2 cups hot milk
salt
1 clove garlic
1 hard-cooked egg yolk
2 tbs Veg. oil

I assume that the yolk is in their to enhance the body and mouth-feel of the sauce, and if so, it does a great job.  I'm wondering if there are any vegetarian-friendly substitutes that can take its place, or if I can just omit the yolk with minimal effect on the sauce.

Thanks in advance for your thoughtful suggestions!
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post #2 of 6
3/3/10 at 2:33pm
Maybe some very firm tofu but it will be trickier to make smooth in the sauce.
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post #3 of 6
3/3/10 at 2:50pm
I've thickened vegan sauces with carrot puree before - I suppose it could work here but obviously it won't give exactly the same results.

One thing to keep in mind when thickening with carrot puree is that it adds sweetness to the dish.
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post #4 of 6
3/3/10 at 3:09pm
There is no true vegan equivalent that I know of. 

However, you can try these techniques:

Soak some stale corn tortillas, slices of stale white bread, or a combination of  both in water or soy milk.  Then wring, squeeze or press out as much of the moisture as possible.  Put the soaked bread in a processor or blender and grind them into a paste.  Add as much of the paste as necessary to give your sauce some structure and cook it in. 

It's important to give tortillas, especially, time to cook, otherwise the corn will taste quite raw.

Hope this helps,
BDL
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post #5 of 6
3/3/10 at 7:17pm
Thread Starter 
Phatch, I'm nervous about tofu.  I've never cooked with it before, and the one time I ate it the texture was such that I don't think I'd ever put it in anything.  Thanks for the idea, though.  If I end up cooking for this particular guest on a regular basis, I'm sure I'll need to get familiar with the 'fu.

Thanks, BDL.  That sounds like it will fit the bill perfectly! 

FF, I might try the carrots if I ever need to thicken a sauce that isn't so precariously balanced on the edge of being too sweet.  It makes pretty good sense - plus, I really like carrots, so worst case scenario the sauce tastes a little better than intended.

Thanks a million to everyone!
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post #6 of 6
3/3/10 at 7:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HungryStudent View Post

FF, I might try the carrots if I ever need to thicken a sauce that isn't so precariously balanced on the edge of being too sweet.  It makes pretty good sense - plus, I really like carrots, so worst case scenario the sauce tastes a little better than intended.

Yes, that makes sense. I like using it sometimes for a sauce that has tomatoes for example - it thickens and balances out the acidity at the same time.
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