Abstract: In this study, three cooking methods, namely baking, ultrasonic treatment and steam, were employed for cooking salted egg yolk (SEY). The effects of different cooking methods on the quality of SEY were investigated by considering moisture content, salt content, apparent oil yield, color, texture characteristics, and sensory indexes as quality indicators. The correlation between the quality indicators and structural characteristics of SEY was examined using Raman spectroscopy based on the above research results. The results showed that the impact of baking temperature and time on moisture content, salt content, and texture characteristics of SEY was minimal. However, it had a significant effect on apparent oil yield and color. Steaming for 30 minutes resulted in significantly lower salt content compared to other cooking methods (P<0.05). After controlling for baking temperature, there was a significant increase in apparent oil yield with longer baking time (P<0.05). Following the cooking process, the color value of SEY increased in the following order: steam<ultrasonic treatment< baking. Sensory evaluation indicated that SEY baking at 120 ℃ for 10minutes had higher comprehensive scores. Raman spectrum analysis revealed that α-helix and β-fold conformations dominated the protein secondary structure of uncooked SEY. However, after baking process, α-helix content decreased significantly while β-fold content decreased notably after ultrasonic and steaming treatments with more tryptophan residues exposed. Under ultrasonic treatment tyrosine residues were most exposed. A significant increase in random crimp contents was observed after all three cooking methods. The correlation analysis revealed a positive relationship between the content of β-fold structure and the brightness of SEY color. Additionally, an increase in the content of irregular curly structure was found to be associated with lower moisture content and improved shape of SEY. Furthermore, tryptophan residues were found to have a significant impact on oil yield, morphology, and color of SEY, while tyrosine residues primarily influenced mastication. This study elucidated the effects of different cooking methods on the macroscopic characteristics of SEY from a microstructural perspective and provided valuable data support for further research on its cooking techniques.