Scotch Eggs and Cider

When we traveled through the West Country in England, we had a list places that we wanted to visit. Of course, those places included numerous cideries along with numerous historical sites like Stonehenge, Highclere Castle, and Glastonbury Tor. However, one of our other goals was to sample various foods. We had high tea at Highclere and we got a great fish and chips at the Yew Tree Inn our first night in country. My wife and I love experiencing new things and one food we’d read about but never had was scotch eggs. Our plan was to find a good pub after visiting Glastonbury and get scotch eggs and/or some shepherd’s pie. Road construction and some timing mishaps left those plans in ruin so we ended up having to make our own scotch eggs once we returned home.

The challenge is that my wife and I don’t make deep fried food. We try to use organic and local ingredients but also look for ways to utilize healthier processes. For scotch eggs, that meant utilizing our convection oven as an air fryer. As you can see, the results looked amazing and the taste was fabulous. There was so much flavor and the crunch of the breading was awesome. My wife kept tapping the outside of the eggs because she couldn’t believe the level of crunch they had. Then we cut them open and it looked like perfection to us.

Scotch Egg on Arugula with Cider
Air Fried Scotch Egg
Bottle and glass of Flamin’ Hops cider.

The real questions are how did the eggs taste and what hard cider did we pair with them. We placed the egg on a bed of arugula and topped that with sriracha mayonnaise. Given the touch of heat from the sriracha, we paired this with Flamin’ Hops Cider. The hops give it some earthy and grassy aromas followed by a slight burn from the Carolina Reaper and Chipotle peppers. This combines well with the spices in the scotch egg and the peppery arugula. You can find my Flamin’ Hops cider recipe in the above link. For the scotch eggs, here is our air fryer scotch eggs recipe. Just a reminder, I always recommend organic when you can find it. It’s healthy and supports those farmers pursing more natural methods that create greater harmony with our environment.

Air Fryer Scotch Eggs

Scotch Egg on Arugula with Sriracha Mayonnaise

Serving: 6 Eggs

Scotch Egg Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 cloves garlic, diced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh sage, chopped
1 pound pork, ground
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 eggs
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
6 hard boiled eggs, peeled
6 cups arugula, light chop

Sriracha Mayonnaise Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoon sriracha sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice.
1 clove garlic, diced

Scotch Egg Steps:

Hard boil 6 eggs, cool, peel, and set aside.
Heat oven on convention or air fryer to 350F ( 177C).
Combine onion powder, 1 clove of garlic, thyme, sage, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper with pork in a mixing bowl.
Combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1;2 teaspoon pepper, and smoked paprika in a shallow bowl for breading.
Whisk 2 eggs and water in a second shallow bowl for breading.
Place panko bread crumbs in a third shallow bowl for breading.
Separate group pork into 6 equal amounts and flatten into a thin patty large enough to wrap around the egg. Place on foil or a plate and set aside.
Dip each peeled hard boiled egg into flour mixture and place on flattened pork patty. Wrap pork patty around egg sealing the egg and making it a smooth round ball. Repeat for each egg.
Roll the wrapped eggs in the flour mixture.
After rolling in flour, dip the wrapped egg in the whisked egg mixture and then roll in the panko bread crumbs. Repeat for each egg.
Place panko covered eggs on a baking rack or in the air fryer basket. Avoid touching eggs together on rack or in ybasket.
Cook for 15-20 minutes at 350F (177C) or until golden brown.
While eggs are warm, cut in half, place on a bed of lightly chopped arugula, and drizzle with sriracha mayonnaise.

Sriracha Mayonnaise Steps

Combine mayonnaise, sriracha sauce, lemon juice, and 1 clove of diced garlic in a small mixing bowl. You can make this in advance and let the flavors meld.

Alternative Commercial Hard Ciders:

Don’t make hard cider or not sure you have the best cider for this pairing? Here are a few commercial cider alternatives that I feel will pair well with these delicious eggs.