Deviled eggs with chile flake and sea salt
If there aren’t any deviled eggs at a cocktail party, did the party really happen? I have a friend who is adamant that a celebration is not a celebration without a platter of deviled eggs. And she isn’t the only one. Deviled eggs make an appearance on restaurant menus all over the city; and they’ve been associated with cocktail parties and celebrations since post-World War II America.
Modern iterations of the dish have come a long way from those made in the 1940s, which mostly consisted of mayonnaise, paprika and mustard. Chef Sam Jung puts pickled mustard seeds and crunchy croutons on the deviled eggs at Church & State in downtown L.A. There’s gochujang paste and kimchi juice in the eggs at Faith & Flower, another downtown restaurant. And at Barbara Jean in Fairfax, chef Jason Fullilove spikes his deviled eggs with yuzu-kosho, then tops them with uni.
Just think of the deviled egg as a perfectly composed dish: bite-sized flavor bombs that offer a study in both texture and balance. The acid component — often from vinegar, mustard or lemon — should pop. The texture, smoothed by an aioli or mayonnaise, should be silky and luxurious. And the garnish — which can vary from sprigs of dill to crumbled chicharrones, a quenelle of caviar or a sprinkle of Everything Bagel spice — should tie all the flavors together while riffing further on the textures of the dish.
Because any party you throw should be a celebration, particularly one thrown on the last night of the year, here are 12 different ways to make deviled eggs — with recipes from chefs Daniel Patterson (Alta), Govind Armstrong (Post & Beam), Roy Choi (Commissary), April Bloomfield (Hearth & Hound), Josef Centeno (Bar Amá) and more.
How long you boil your eggs — and whether you use an immersion blender, or good old-fashioned elbow grease to make your own aioli — is up to you. Some eggs call for garlic aioli, others require a little Kewpie mayonnaise. Some require a dash of Tabasco sauce, while others favor a couple splashes of Champagne vinegar. Whatever you decide, just be sure you make enough for everyone.
Remove the yolks from all of the eggs and place them in a food processor. You will have 24 egg white halves after you slice the eggs. Place 8 whites in the processor along with the yolks, reserving 16.
Add the mayonnaise, buttermilk, paprika, turmeric, celery salt, Dijon mustard and a drizzle of olive oil to the processor and purée until very smooth. If the mixture is still coarse, beat in more mayonnaise, buttermilk or white vinegar to taste. This makes about 3 cups yolk mixture.
Fill the empty egg white halves with the yolk mixture and garnish each with chives, chile flakes, sea salt and dill.
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