I wish I could say that I was suddenly struck with a moment of inspiration for this recipe but in reality it came about purely through the power of advertising. I was out shopping for food and picked up these, very cute looking, mini wholemeal submarine rolls. The packaging had a picture on it of the same rolls but enticingly stuffed full of egg mayonnaise and cress… and BOOM! I immediately wanted an egg mayo and cress roll too. What an impressionable soul I am! Especially when extremely hungry and in Marks and Spencers food department.

Weirdly egg mayo is not a sandwich filling I would usually go crazy for. If you follow me on instagram you’ll know I have a borderline obsession with making my own vegan cheese, and it’s usually that which I crave in my sandwiches. But once I get an idea into my head about eating something it won’t go away until I’ve satisfied the craving.

I’d made a vegan egg mayo once before as a close friend had bought a tub of egg mayo at Vegfest one year which she raved about. That particular one had been made with overcooked soft pasta as the “egg” and asked if I could recreate it. You betcha I could! I made her a few jars of the stuff and although it tasted good and she was content with her bizarre gift (I only got round to making it about 8 months after she asked me and then thrust it upon her as a surprise) I just didn’t feel quite right stuffing a bread roll with yet more carbs. Now a nutritionist I am certainly not, nor am I someone that really stresses over the nutritional profile of my food, but a protein base was surely a better way to go. So I turned to the vegans best friend: Tofu.

The trick to recreating that distinctive egg taste is by using kala namak or black salt. It has the same sulphurous eggy aroma and is really eerily similar to the original once mixed in with your mayo. Although I am loath to write recipes where you require a weird or hard to find ingredient, it really is crucial for this one. Without it you would still have a nice creamy filling but it would simply taste of mayo without any of the egg flavour to round it out. I bought my salt online from here but you can also find it in asian supermarkets if you happen to have one near you.

If you haven’t already tried making your own vegan mayo I would highly recommend that you do. It’s so insanely easy and also pretty satisfying whipping up your own condiment in a few minutes. Plus I just think it tastes much better than any of the store bought varieties, and without any of the preservatives etc. You can find my recipe here. If you are making mayonnaise specifically to make this egg mayo I would perhaps leave out the salt, or only use a little. Just so you then have the option to add more black salt as you go to suit your tastebuds.

I hope you like this recipe – do let me know in the comments or over on instagram @KindStateOfMind if you give it a try! x

Easy Vegan Egg Mayo

Makes: 1 medium bowl

Time taken: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 400g firm tofu – drained of excess moisture
• 5-6 tbsp mayonaise (homemade or store-bought)
• 1/2-1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp black salt – kala namak
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. In a large bowl mash the tofu with a fork until it resembles breadcrumbs and has no large lumps.
2. Mix in the remaining ingredients and stir until well combined. Have a taste to check the seasoning, add a bit more turmeric if you’d like it more yellow (I added the full tsp and still couldn’t taste it over the salt) or more black salt if you want it more eggy.
3. Either use immediately in sandwiches or salads, or store in the fridge in a covered container. It will keep for about 3 days.