Serves : 4 eggs
Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Marinating Time : At least 1 hour
Cooking Time : 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 5 large eggs (1 beaten)
- ¼ cup of plain flour
- 1 cup of white Japanese bread crumbs
- at least 3cm deep high smoking point oil (for frying the eggs)
Minced Pork
- 280g of minced pork shoulder (30% fat)
- ½ tsp of golden caster sugar
- ¼ tsp of sea salt
- ½ tsp of ground coriander seeds
- 1 tsp mixed Italian herbs
- 1/8 tsp of onion powder
- 1/8 tsp of garlic powder
- ¼ tsp of ground black pepper
- pinch of ground cinnamon
- pinch of ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp of water
Tartar Sauce
- 2 tbsp of organic mayonnaise
- 2 tsp of Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp of chopped gherkins
- 1 tsp of chopped chives/ dill (optional)
- 1/8 tsp of ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp of lemon juice
Instructions
First of all, season the mince pork shoulder with ½ tsp of golden caster sugar, ¼ tsp of sea salt, ½ tsp of ground coriander seeds, 1 tsp mixed Italian herbs, 1/8 tsp of onion powder, 1/8 tsp of garlic powder, ¼ tsp of ground black pepper, a pinch of ground cinnamon, a pinch of ground nutmeg, 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil and 1 tbsp of water.
Mix with chopsticks or a spoon until the pork mince stick together, You could use your hands to mix the pork too.
Cover the pork with cling film and marinate it for about 1 hour.
Now you can prepare a tartar sauce. wash and chop the chives.
Then chop a few gherkins. I use mini gherkins. You could use big ones too. We only need about one table spoon chopped gherkins.
In a bowl, add 2 tbsp of organic mayonnaise in a bowl, 2 tsp of Dijon mustard, and 1/8 tsp of ground black pepper.
Then add 1/4 tsp of fresh lemon juice, the chopped gherkins and chives. You could replace the chives with dill.
Then mix everything together and set aside.
Prepare a pot of water, then put 4 large eggs inside. The water should be just enough to cover the top of the eggs. Put the lid on and bring the water to the boil with medium high heat.
Once the water is boiled, turn off the heat and keep the lid on for another 4 minutes.
Get the eggs out after 4 minutes and put them under the tap or inside a bowl of cold water.
Peel the eggs.
Divide the marinated pork into 4 even portions. Put one portion on a piece of cling film.
Cover the pork up with the cling film and flatten it with your palm.
Dry an egg and put it on the flatten mince pork.
Then wrap the egg with the pork gently.
You could feel with your hands if the pork is covering the egg evenly.
Then you could roll the egg in some flour.
Afterwards, you could carefully dip the egg in the beaten egg.
At last, roll the egg in some Japanese bread crumbs. Repeat the same process to prepare all 4 eggs.
Heat up a pot of oil. I use rice bran oil and sunflower seeds oil because their smoking point is high. The oil should be able to cover half of the eggs. You could test the temperature of the oil by dropping a piece of bread crumb in the oil. If small bubbles appear around the bread crumb straight away, the oil is ready. I use a big spoon to put the eggs into the pot to avoid breaking the outer layer.
Fry the eggs with medium low heat and turn up the heat a little bit towards the end. Once the eggs are golden brown, they are done.
Let the eggs rest for 5 minutes before serving.
The outside of the eggs should be crunchy and the yolk should be soft and moist. I don’t like runny egg yolk. I think the sweet spot is this soft and moist state. The yolk should be in a vibrant and shiny orange colour. A simple tartar sauce goes really well with these flavourful scotch eggs. Enjoy! 🙂
Cooking Tips
- You could use sausage meat to save some time.
- I normally keep the seasoned minced pork in the fridge overnight to make sure all the flavours come together.
- When you boil the eggs, use medium high heat to bring the water to the boil. Then turn off the heat and keep the lid on for another 4 minutes.
- Put the boiled eggs in cold/ ice water can stop them from cooking and would make them easier to peel.
- I used Japanese bread crumbs. They are light and crispy.
- You can add dill into the tartar sauce instead of chives. It is ok to skip it too.
- You can enjoy Scotch eggs cold, but they taste the best when they are warm. Enjoy them after resting for 5 minutes. Delicious!
