Cured Egg Yolks with Black Pepper, Bonito and Bay:Recipe

The process of turning bland raw egg yolks into savory, grate-able cured yolks couldn’t be simpler: Separate yolks, pack in salt and seasonings, wait, rinse, dry in the oven, and use. Adding savory bonito flakes and plenty of spicy black pepper to our classic Salt-Cured Egg Yolks recipe elevates these cured yolks to luxurious levels. Bonito flakes, one of the two primary ingredients in Japanese dashi broth, pack these yolks with supersavory glutamic acid, boosting them pretty high up on the umami scale. Just as with an aged hard cheese, grating these yolks on top of soups, salads, pastas, and meats quickly adds seasoning and umami.

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"I love bonito for this recipe, but you could substitute mackerel or another semi-oily fish, just as long as it's super-fresh," says James Henry. You'll need a blowtorch to achieve the combination of caramelised exterior and rare flesh; it's difficult to replicate this effect with a griller.

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The long cooking time is all part of the curing process — the fish is cooking in a saline solution that needs to penetrate the fish fully to help make it last long. The result is anything but dry! This is the most tender, soft fish, quite different even to tinned tuna.

Tip: Make sure you don’t cut it into too small pieces as the amount of salt here is meant for very large (thick) pieces and the smaller ones will be a bit too salty otherwise.