Someone asked me to recreate Blue Plate Hot and Spicy mayo and I had to go look it up. My mayo series started with the classic I make with garlic and Dijon, then Duke’s style, then Hellmann’s, and I thought I had covered the ground. Apparently not. And yes, a homemade Kewpie dupe is coming.
So I made it. And then I had a jar of spicy mayo in my fridge and nothing planned for it, which is how the tuna salad below came to exist.
Both recipes are here. The mayo is an immersion blender job and takes about a minute once your ingredients are in the jar.
Why This Works
The mayo uses a whole egg rather than just yolks. That gives it a softer, looser body than most homemade mayo, so if yours does not set up stiff and glossy, nothing has gone wrong.
The spice goes into the base with the egg instead of getting stirred in at the end. It emulsifies through the whole batch, which is why the heat tastes like part of the mayo rather than something sitting on top of it.
In the tuna salad, the dressing is half spicy mayo and half Greek yogurt. The yogurt keeps it from going heavy and adds a tang that plays off the vinegar already in the mayo. It also takes the edge off the cayenne, which you will notice if you went generous.
As for the vegetables, I kept them to four and gave each one a job. Celery brings crunch. Red bell pepper brings sweetness and, honestly, most of the color. Green onion sharpens it. And the pickled okra is the one people will ask about, especially if you have been following along with the pickle series.
Macro Snapshot
Macros pending MyFitnessPal verification with exact brands. I will come back and update this once I have run the numbers.
Protein: one can of albacore plus Greek yogurt lands this comfortably in my usual range for a meal
Fiber: the salad itself is light here. What you serve it on is doing that work
Fat: almost entirely from the oil in the mayo, and that part is yours to adjust
I want to be upfront about the fiber. Celery and bell pepper contribute very little, and I would rather tell you that than let you assume otherwise. A high fiber tortilla or bread closes the gap.
Recipe One: Hot and Spicy Mayo (Blue Plate Dupe)
Makes about one cup.
Ingredients
1 whole large egg, room temperature
1 cup avocado oil
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon allulose
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Louisiana style hot sauce, optional
Instructions
Add everything except the oil to a tall narrow jar, the kind your immersion blender fits into with a little room around it.
Pour the oil on top and leave it alone for about 30 seconds while it settles. Resist the urge to stir.
Drop the immersion blender all the way to the bottom of the jar. Turn it on and hold it still. You will see the bottom two thirds go thick and pale.
When that happens, lift the blender slowly to bring in the rest of the oil.
Taste for salt. Keeps in the fridge about a week.
Start with 1/2 teaspoon cayenne if you want room to move. The heat keeps developing overnight, so what tastes moderate on day one will be hotter on day two.
If you have small eggs like I do, use two and bring the oil up to about 1 1/4 cups so the ratio holds. Room temperature matters here more than you might expect, so pull them out ahead of time.
Recipe Two: Spicy Louisiana Tuna Salad
Makes one serving.
Ingredients
1 can Oregon albacore, drained well
2 tablespoons hot and spicy mayo
2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1 stalk celery, small dice
1/4 red bell pepper, small dice
2 green onions, sliced
2 tablespoons chopped pickled okra
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
Squeeze of lemon
Salt to taste
Instructions
Whisk the mayo and yogurt together in the bowl first, before anything else goes in. Add them separately and the yogurt streaks, which leaves you with white patches instead of an even dressing.
Drain the tuna, then flake it into the bowl and leave some of the chunks whole.
Fold the tuna through the dressing until it is coated.
Add the celery, bell pepper, green onion, okra, and celery seed, then fold again.
Squeeze of lemon, taste, and salt only if it needs it. The okra already brought some.
Give it about 10 minutes to sit if you have the time.
Fold rather than stir. Oregon albacore has big beautiful flakes and that texture is the whole reason to spend money on the good stuff. Also, mix this close to when you plan to eat, since the yogurt loosens as the vegetables release water.
Thrive Tip
Drain your tuna longer than you want to. Press the lid down and let it sit tipped over the sink while you chop your vegetables. The water hiding in that can is why a tuna salad tastes right at noon and watery by two.
This is habit stacking in its smallest possible form. You are already opening the can and already chopping. Draining costs you nothing extra because it happens during a step you were doing anyway, and that is the kind of change that actually stays.
How to Serve It
On a high fiber tortilla, folded up like a wrap
Open faced on high fiber toast with extra green onion over the top
Butter lettuce cups with a little spicy mayo drizzled on
Stuffed into mini sweet peppers if you need something to bring somewhere
Out of the bowl with cucumber slices, which is what I do most days
Make It Your Own
Skip the yogurt if you want it richer and go up to about three tablespoons of mayo instead.
No pickled okra in the fridge? Chopped dill pickle covers the same ground.
A tablespoon of chopped fresh dill brightens the whole thing up if you want it more herby.
For milder, cut the cayenne in the mayo to 1/4 teaspoon. The paprika and garlic still come through.
Doubling it works fine. By day two the flavor has settled in and the texture is softer, so it depends what you like.
A comment sent me down a Southern mayo research hole and I came out of it with a lunch I have made four times since. Make the mayo on a Sunday and you will find things to put it on all week.
Lolita