Kewpie Mayonnaise is the best-selling mayonnaise in Japan, and pretty much the only mayo used by sushi restaurants all over the world.
Creamy and silky-textured, this slightly yellow eggy-mayonnaise (also known as QP in some places) is an almost cult-hit outside of Japan. In the Netherlands, for example, Kewpie is the standard companion to chips/fries.
Created by the Kewpie Corporation in Japan, it began sales in 1925 with production of 600kg. By the next year this had increased to 7 tons and today its output is many millions of tons.
Kewpie mayonnaise is packaged in a soft, transparent, tactile and uniquely squeezable bottle. This mayo bottle has a red lid with a nice star-shaped opening which allows lovely neat zen-type squeezes.
The bottle, unusual in this age of global branding and especially for a billion dollar corporation, has nothing printed on it. No image, no writing, no information at all.
The clear plastic packaging in which the bottle is sold has a red image of a Kewpie doll, one of those retro kids’ dolls with a curly peaked fringe, a red mesh pattern and a whole lot of red Japanese text on the back. In some countries it is sold with “KEWPIE Mayonnaise” and weight info printed on the bag, but in my country there is nothing in English, so we English speakers just have to trust that what we’re using is okay for human consumption.
Just okay for human consumption? This is the best mayonnaise I’ve ever encountered.
I’ve never been a big fan of the vinegary palid globby Western mayonnaises such as big brands Hellmann’s, Kraft’s Miracle Whip or even my home-made egg yolk, olive oil and lemon variety.
Nonetheless, as you probably do, I previously kept some in the fridge on standby for things like potato salads, egg mayo and tuna mayo sandwiches, and salad dressings.
No more. Since I discovered Kewpie mayonnaise many years ago I’ve seldom made my own or bought another mainstream branded mayo.
Kewpie mayo is addictive. There is something about its creamy umami taste and silky texture that makes me stop at my fridge and squeeze out a little taste on a finger. It’s scarily more-ish.
But here’s the thing. Mayonnaise is basically a science experiment in how an egg part (the yolk) reacts to the addition of oil at different rates and subsequent emulsion, and then how adding an acid affects the flavour.
This has led me to want to know what the secret of Kewpie is. I can’t read the Japanese writing on the outer packaging, can’t insert it into Google Translate, so I decided to discover the ingredients that keep me coming back for more of this yummy oriental condiment.
So, what are the ingredients? Where does the magical flavour come from? I went on a little online mission and this is the summary of what I found.
It seems that the ingredients are:
Vegetable oil
- Which oil? I don’t know yet.
- Egg yolk oil or lipid? see below.
Egg yolk
- From the Kewpie corporate website: “Lecithin has been known as not only nutritive component, but also good natural emulsifier. There are mainly 2 sources for lecithin, that is, soy bean and egg yolk, especially, egg yolk lecithin is well balanced for human in-take since the lipid composition of egg yolk is very similar to the one of human being.”
- As the company says here, “EGG YOLK LECITHIN PL-30S is an orange-yellow colored oily substance containing more than 30% of phospholipids. It has high stability against heat and storage period．It can be used for wide range of food items to enhance rich egg flavor and nutrition.”
- Kewpie says it “is an eggs expert, which are the main ingredients of mayonnaise. About 9% of all eggs produced in Japan, or roughly 230,000 tons, are transformed into Kewpie products.” Simply astonishing, so basically one in every ten eggs produced in Japan get processed through the Kewpie Corporation.
- “The Company has devoted itself to the challenge of pursuing the full use of eggs without any waste.” Good to know.
- ” “YOLK OIL HF ” is a high quality egg yolk oil produced from fresh egg yolk by our original extraction technology. YOLK OIL HF gives final products rich body as well as good egg flavor．Main component of YOLK OIL HF is a lipid so that YOLK OIL HF is suitable for cooked foods.”
- Lysolecithin is another product of egg yolk that I think the Kewpie Corporation may be using in Kewpie mayonnaise.
- “Kewpie uses egg shells as calcium-reinforcing food products. Moreover, the Company thoroughly uses even membranes attached to egg shells without any waste.” Okay.
- So I think Kewpie mayonnaise contains a lecithin extract from egg yolk, and possibly lysolecithin and egg yolk oil, not the complete egg yolk.
- Egg yolks, the nutritional powerhouse of the amazing egg, are fabulously healthy ingredients when enjoyed in moderation. I’m not sure about extracting bits of it, and please make your own processed nutritional decisions. But since Kewpie mayo is so delicious and based on egg yolk, a source of human nourishment, for now that’s okay with me (in small quantities.)
Rice wine vinegar
- This is a gentler vinegar than the sharp distilled spirit vinegar used by most mainstream brands.
- It adds necessary acidity to Kewpie mayonnaise while maintaining smooth creaminess.
Salt
- I have no info on this yet.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
- MSG is an much maligned chemical re-creation of glutamic acid or glutamate (an important chemical which exists in our brains) which creates the delicious umami flavour found naturally in foods like tomato, mushroom, egg yolk, seaweed and tuna.
- Umami is touted as the “fifth taste”, a balanced savoury flavour that fits alongside the classic salty, sweet, sour and bitter receptors found on the human tongue.
- Maggi-branded products are famous or notorious for using MSG.
- In small quantities this synthetic additive is harmless and creates great umami taste in dishes; in large quantities it tastes awful – a bit like salt really.
- From the article, “It is the taste of Marmite in the United Kingdom, of Golden Mountain sauce in Thailand, of Goya Sazón on the Latin islands of the Caribbean, of Salsa Lizano in Costa Rica and of Kewpie mayonnaise in Japan.”
- My personal jury is still out on MSG, but currently I believe that if occasional tiny amounts of a food additive is enjoyed to enhance a diet rich in good fresh vegetables and legumes and quality lean proteins then it’s not all bad.
Spices
So it seems, compared with my homemade mayo recipe that precise egg yolk elements, rice wine vinegar and MSG (monosodium glutamate) may be the secret ingredients of Kewpie mayonnaise. I’d kind of suspected something like this during my long love affair with Kewpie mayo.
It’s a highly processed foodstuff, and you have to make your own decision about where or whether processed food fits into your lifestyle.
Nutritionally, Kewpie mayo is high in calories, with one tablespoon (14 g) containing 100 calories (about 400 kilojoules), 90% of which come from fat. Sodium content is high too, at about 100mg per tablespoon. There is pretty much no other nutrition besides that in the egg yolks, and zero fibre and protein, so Kewpie mayo should basically be considered as a tasty source of vegetarian fat and salt.
Kewpie mayo is not a completely healthy condiment by any means. But used in sensibly small quantities it adds so much to other healthy foods.
RECIPE SUGGESTIONS
Sauce for seared salmon or tuna
- My favourite sauce or dressing is a very simple ratio of three parts Kewpie mayonnaise with about one part Kikkoman soya sauce – find the balance that gives you the consistency and flavour you prefer.
- Mix well with a fork or whisk in a small bowl until it’s an even light brown colour and spoon it on top of lightly pan-seared fillet of tuna or North Atlantic salmon or similar.
- Watch it melt and taste the deliciousness.
Maki rolls
- If you know how to make your own sushi, simply lay out a nori sheet on a bamboo mat and spread a layer of correctly prepared short-grain sushi rice (boiled then steamed till soft and sticky).
- Place rows of thin crunchy fresh Mediterranean cucumber strips, dry-pan-toasted sesame seeds and a generous layer of Kewpie mayo squirted in a line through its neat red star lid.
- For fun, crunch and colour add salad onion (scallion or green onion) sliced lengthways, thinly sliced sweet red/orange/yellow pepper, and/or strips of a fruit like strawberry, melon or avocado.
- Roll up tightly in the bamboo mat, then slice into coin shapes with a sharp wet knife.
- Serve with a bowl of Kikkoman soya sauce to dip by hand, and forever convert your vegetarian friends to sushi.
Egg mayo sandwiches
- Hard-boil some eggs (one to two per person) and once they are cool chop well and add thinly sliced spring onion.
- Add a pinch of very finely chopped fresh herb – I love coriander (cilantro/dhania); basil and parsley also work well.
- To introduce a bit more crunch and nutrition add grated carrot, finely diced cucumber, finely diced red pepper and/or sprouts.
- Mix very well with a generous few squirts of Kewpie mayonnaise.
- Serve on great quality bread (no butter since you already have all your oil in the mayo) and a combination of delicious small leaves like rocket (arugula), baby spinach and watercress for the tastiest crunchy egg mayo on open or closed sandwiches.
Dip for vegetable finger snacks
- Lightly steam florets of brocolli and cauliflower, sticks of carrot and fresh mushroom caps.
- Arrange on a platter with a small bowl of Kewpie mayo for dipping.
The egg is a versatile fruit 