Slaphakskeentjies. Note the “k” in the middle; English speakers often mistakenly say slaphaksteentjies, with a “t”; steen being a brick or small rock. A hakskeen is in fact a heel, so “weak heel” could be a direct translation of slaphakskeen.

Perhaps the name was given to this salad of pickling onions in a sweet and sour egg sauce because of the way the onions are supposed to turn out once cooked: neither too soft nor too hard. The cooking of the onions needs care, as they must not be too soft and need to retain a crunch.

The sweet and sour come from combining sugar and vinegar; the resulting sauce is creamy without there being any cream in it, though some cooks do use some. That’s a mistake, or at least non traditional.

Other than that there’s only water, mustard powder (or a wet mustard such as Hot English) and salt; no pepper. It can be thickened with cornflour though this should not be necessary if made correctly.

Essentially the sauce is a savoury custard, so the making of it will remind you of making sweet custard or a custard-based ice cream, if those are in your repertoire.

The onions are those often labelled pickling onions, sometimes called baby onions; err on the side of the smaller ones, as the bigger ones are more likely to be undercooked in the centre. Unlike with pickled onions that will macerate in their pickling juices for months, slaphakskeentjies are likely to be devoured soon after the salad is made. But you can bottle them in a jar and keep them in the fridge for a few weeks. Can’t really see the point of that, what with braai weather looming and most of us so keen to get out of doors. I even spotted one recipe suggesting shallots. I don’t agree: they’re just too big. Anyway, shallots are so scarce in our supermarkets that I would sooner keep them for use in other recipes. Read my plea for more shallots in our shops here.

As for those eggs, quantities diverge wildly. Some recipes call for two, others for five. Three or four eggs appear in many recipes. I saw none with only one while researching. I decided, with a little trepidation, to go with four, having been tempted to use only three. But in the fourth egg went, and the result was just right, so I’ll stick with that quantity.

For mustard, I chose the dried powder. I don’t think it makes any real difference, as you’re only looking for a mustardy flavour. The vinegar should be simple: white wine vinegar. Apple cider vinegar would throw the desired flavour profile out, and any darker vinegars such as brown would affect the pale colour you’re looking for. I did not use pepper, though some recipes do have it.

There is an alternative called red slaphakskeentjies. These are similar but can include sultanas, a little tomato paste, and a hint of red pepper such as cayenne or paprika; perhaps a little chilli powder.

Ingredients

1 kg small pickling onions

4 eggs, beaten

100 g sugar

125 ml ½ cup white wine vinegar

250 ml 1 cup water

1 heaped tsp mustard powder

½ tsp salt

Method

Bring plenty of water to the boil, plunge all the onions into it, leave for a minute and then drain in a colander. Leave to cool, then slip off the skins and tidy the ends, leaving a bit of the root end intact to hold the onions together.

Cook the peeled onions in lightly salted water until tender but not soft. Strain and leave to cool.

In a saucepan, boil the water, vinegar, sugar, mustard powder and salt together for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave it aside to cool.

Once cooled, stir in the beaten eggs, then put it on a very low heat and stir constantly until thickened. It must not approach boiling point; just a very gentle simmer, stirring all the while. You should find that it suddenly thickens quite quickly. There’s no need to keep cooking if it’s attained a pleasantly creamy consistency.

Once the sauce has thickened, leave it to cool. Once cooled, pour the sauce over the onions in a salad bowl or bottle and refrigerate until needed. Bring them out for that sunny braai you’ll be having any day now. DM/TGIFood

Tony Jackman’s book, foodSTUFF, is available in the DM Shop. Buy it here. 

Mervyn Gers Ceramics supplies dinnerware for the styling of some TGIFood shoots

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.