My number one mission when I went to England was to have an “Authentic” experience and try traditional English fare. While England has long had a crummy reputation for food, beings that the majority of it was just fried and brown, I was insistent on having some of the classics. One night had to include a traditional pub meal. I wanted a Sunday Roast at some point, preferably on a Sunday and I wanted to try as many British snacks and goods as I could. I mean I had basically trained for it. Lost 10 pounds before I went over to make room and walked miles to get used to walking all over London and the rest of our locations on the trip.
Randy and I had both decided that our first meal in London should be a good old Traditional Fish and Chips. He, like me, likes to do his research before going somewhere and wants to try the best of the best when in a new place. He found that a quite notable one was in walking distance from our hotel and we both agreed that it would be a perfect spot for lunch after our early arrival.
Only problem was, we did have an early arrival. After having an overnight flight to Heathrow Airport, we checked in to our hotel around 8:30am. We quickly realized that our lunch spot, The Mayfair Chippy, didn’t open until around 11am. So wander we did around Oxford Street and Grosvenor Square. Finally, their doors opened and we had one of our favorite meals during our whole stay in London. Obviously fish and chips were involved, which we’ll dive into later. But I ordered myself a scotch egg because, well, they are amazing. If you aren’t familiar, Scotch Eggs are traditionally a soft or hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, rolled in breadcrumbs and then baked or deep fried.
Yet another food item who’s history is muddled with uncertainty of origin, the creation of the Scotch egg claims to belong to several different parties. The famous department store, Fortnum & Mason states that they created it as a cold snack for traveler’s. First off, I’m sorry but eww. I don’t want cold packed sausage meat wrapped around an egg. It needs to be warm! Some say the name came from those who lived near the Wellington Baracks in London and from the Scots Guards who enjoyed eating them. No matter who made them or how the name was developed, the item became has become quite popular in picnic food, pub fare and different stops all through United Kingdom and now, the US.
With the popularity of Air Fryers within the most recent years, I decided to tweak my recipe to be down in there. The traditional deep fried Scotch Egg is basically a calorie laden fat and cholesterol bomb, and while it is delicious, I figured why not cut some calories where we can.
While I do enjoy hard boiled eggs, I enjoy a runny yolk on mine even more. Feel free to cook your eggs longer if running isn’t for you. I cooked mine using my 7 minute egg method. Boiling water, carefully drop eggs in, cook for 7 minutes, pull out and drop eggs into ice cold water to stop cooking process. The trick with cooking the Scotch Eggs is to make sure your eggs are ice cold when you wrap them in the sausage meat.
I can’t stress this enough when you are wrapping your eggs: BE PATIENT. Upon researching these, I read that and it was something that helped me when making mine. Make an extra egg or two in case one breaks during the wrapping process. Be gentle, take your time and make sure the entire egg is covered in sausage meat.
Spray air fryer liberally with oil or a cooking spray and place scotch eggs inside. While they are cooking, make your sauce. The sauce I had in London had a curry spice to it so that’s why I added it into.
Once finished, allow the eggs to cool slightly before eating. Enjoy with Curry Sauce, and a fresh pint!
Air Fried Scotch Eggs with Runny Yolks
- 4 eggs
- 1 Tbsp Italian Parsley, Chopped
- 1/2 tsp fresh Sage leaves, chopped
- 1/2 tsp fresh Dill, chopped
- 1/4 tsp fresh Thyme, chopped
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds breakfast sausage meat
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
Curry Mayo Sauce
- 1/2 cup stone ground dijon mustard
- 3 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
Place medium pot on water on high heat and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, carefully place eggs in and cook for exactly 7 minutes for runny yolks, 10 for firmer yolks.
Place in ice water and allow to cool completely.
In a large bowl, combine Italian parsley, sage, dill, thyme, salt, pepper and sausage meat. Mix to combine all ingredients.
Under running water, carefully peel shells off of eggs and gently set eggs aside.
Divide sausage meat mixture into four and press down into thin patties. Carefully place an egg into the center of each meat patty.
Working slowly and patiently, carefully start to wrap egg up with meat. Make sure to cover entire egg with meat, leaving no part of it showing.
Spray air fryer liberally with oil or cooking spray and carefully place scotch eggs inside. Cook at 370 degrees for 14 minutes, turning over half way through cooking.
Allow to cool slightly before serving.
In a medium bowl, combine all sauce ingredients and mix until combined. Serve with eggs and enjoy!