Indulgent hollandaise sauce

Serves 4

(Keiko Oikawa)

Hollandaise is a rich butter sauce. Here, I have added a small amount of Tabasco to give the dish just the smallest amount of heat and depth.

80ml/3fl oz white-wine vinegar
80ml/3fl oz white wine
1 large shallot, peeled and finely chopped
8-10 black peppercorns
230g/7oz unsalted butter
8 egg yolks
A few drops of lemon juice
A few drops of Tabasco
Sea salt to taste

Place the vinegar, wine, shallot and peppercorns in a small pan and put over a medium-to-high heat. Simmer until the liquid is reduced to approximately one tablespoon – this will take around 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

In a separate pan, melt the butter over a very low heat, remove and allow to cool. Get another pan, fill it with water and place it on to simmer.

In a large bowl, add the wine reduction, egg yolks and cooled butter. Set the bowl over the simmering hot water, making sure that the bowl sits above the water, not in it. Whisk the mixture as it warms vigorously until thick. This should take about 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat, squeeze in the lemon juice, Tabasco and season with the salt. Keep in a warm place until ready to use. I have served it here with poached egg, sprouting brocolli and ham.