How to Make Scotch Eggs
We cannot complete the talk about traditional Scotch egg recipe without discussing the Scotch origin. This mouth-watering snack was first made during the middle ages by shepherds and framers of Scottish origin. They made it out of necessity as a means of having something to eat in the fields or farms without returning home to have lunch. In fact, it was a ready-made way of having some form of nourishment on the move. Made to be conveniently wrapped in a napkin and carried in your pouch or pocket, this delicacy in addition to a sizeable loaf of bread and drinks have turned out to be a choice pub meal, and before you start thinking that it is complicated, the snack is quite easy to make.
1st Step – Gather the Ingredients
- Six boiled eggs (peeled and kept in a bowl of cold water or refrigerate).
- Good quality tube sausage – one pound.
- Two raw eggs.
- One tbsp water.
- Salt
- Breadcrumbs – one cup (crushed)
2nd Step – Preparation Part One
The tube sausage should be cut into six and loosely formed into a ball. Refrigerate the six balls till you are ready to use them. The reason is that the sausage can get warmed up and hard to mold from the heat of your hands
Remove one sausage ball from the refrigerator and make one big indention using your thumb. Work gently as you make it look like a bowl with even thickness all around. Use a paper towel to dry one boiled egg and place it into the bowl-like sausage and gently mold it around the entire egg, maintain an even thickness as you form all the six boiled eggs. Put each of the molded eggs back in the fridge as you go and leave them there while you get ready for the next step.
3rd Step – Preparation Part Two
Crack the two raw eggs into a clean bowl with one tbsp of water, salt and ground fresh pepper (optional) and whisk till it becomes frothy. Get two bowls handy with one containing the bread crumbs. Remove the wrapped eggs from the fridge.
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To avoid leaving a lot of mess, this part is best done one after the other. One sausage wrapped egg goes into the frothy egg, cover, and coat completely and then take it out with the aid of a large cooking spoon. Place it in the bowl of bread crumbs and gently roll it to completely cover the sausage wrapped egg. Do the same with the remaining five eggs and put them in a bowl. The process should be repeated until the bread crumbs come into two layers. The evenly coated eggs should be placed in the fridge until you are set to cook them.
4th Step: Cooking
Get a deep frying pan, add one and a half cups of vegetable oil and heat to 375 degrees F. Take out the eggs one at a time and cook in the sizzling oils for three to four minutes. When one side is completely cooked, turn the other side with the aid of a pair of long tongs until all the sausage wrapped eggs are evenly cooked on both sides. Always allow three to four minutes before each turn. You need to be careful not to get the sausage burnt, and they have to be cooked all through.
The cooking is probably the most difficult part if you don’t trust your cooking skills; enlist the assistance of someone that can help in watching over the cooking eggs, so as not to overcook them or worse still burn them. An overcooked Scotch egg is likely to burst open, exposing the egg inside. This is the reason you must mold each egg very well as evenly coated eggs make for even cooking and prevents the prepared sausage from cracking, shrinking or bursting open to expose the egg. The finished snack comes with a dark brown color.
5th Step – the Eating
In fact, this is the most anticipated part; the cooked Scotch eggs should be allowed ten minutes to cool, and then sliced the long way into two parts. What you will end up with will appear like a boiled egg snuggled in a coat of sausage. Some people like to enjoy it with some Scotch egg sauce, or you can just splash some mustard into a plate with the halved eggs arranged around it. Some potato chips or fried potatoes can go with Scotch egg, just smear it with some mustard and dig in! Keeping this delicacy overnight means refrigerating and heating them in a microwave when you are ready to eat. Some people even eat them cold.
Sources:
- Scotch eggs – BBC Good Food
- How to Make Scotch Eggs – WikiHow
- How to cook the perfect scotch egg – The Guardian