Nobody really knows why this is called a scotch egg. I used to think they were hard boiled eggs pickled in scotch. However, they are considered picnic food, if there is even such a thing as picnic food, considering how most food now can be brought outside for a picnic. But I read somewhere that old English hunters used to bring this as their quick meals when they have to be away for several days.
Scotch eggs can be made with either chicken or quail’s egg. It is served on a bed of salad with dressing or smothered in gravy. You’re probably wondering from the picture why there is only one depressing scotch egg on the plate. Did she run out of eggs or something? Well, you’re half right. It’s the end of the week, the pantry is almost barren of supplies and I had only one tube of hot Italian sausage left. It wouldn’t be enough just to eat it on its own so I decided to stretch it by making a scotch egg instead. And…I didn’t have any salad either, nor do I have the mood to make a dressing or sauce. It’s rather nice to eat it as it is.
I like my yolk to be semi-runny so I let the water come to a rolling boil then shut it off and leave the egg submerged in the hot water for 4 mins. You get a rather solid texture on the side of the yolk but in the middle it is still soft and almost gooey.
I know certain Scotch egg recipes would ask you to coat it in an egg bath first before the breadcrumbs but I felt my sausage had a good amount of fat in them so it doesn’t need that extra moisture.
To find out more about the sausages, you can read my previous post here.
SCOTCH EGG RECIPE
For one egg
Ingredients;
1 fresh hot Italian sausage
1 hard-boiled egg, cooked to your preference
Panko breadcrumbs
Oil for deep frying
Steps;
1. Squeeze the meat mixture out of the sausage casing.
2. Encase your hard-boiled egg in the sausage meat, covering it completely.
3. Coat it in panko breadcrumbs.
4. Fry it in the hot oil till all sides are browned evenly.
5. Eat with any accompaniments you like.
most recipes actually allow for it to be encased in minced beef, or a mixture of mince and sausage. either way works, although I would imagine that sausage meat would be a bit saltier.
Yeah, it can be any sort of minced meat but if u wanna escape the hassle of mixing a minced meat yourself, i think using sausage meat is the cheat’s version. The saltiness of the sausage works fine with the bland eggs. That’s why it’d be nice to have some salad too to offset it but I didn’t have any.