What Can I Make with Egg and Ground Pork?

Ground pork on its own is soft, fatty and structurally weak. Formed into a patty and put in a pan, it tends to crumble as the fat renders out and the proteins contract. Egg is the standard fix: its proteins coagulate during cooking and knit through the mince, locking the whole thing into a single mass. That is why almost every meatball, patty, meatloaf and steamed bun filling in the world includes one.

The amount matters more than people assume. One egg per five hundred grams of mince is roughly the right proportion. Too little and the mixture falls apart; too much and it goes rubbery and oddly wet, because excess egg white sets into something springy rather than tender. Most traditional recipes pair the egg with a panade — bread soaked in milk, or cooked rice — which absorbs juices and keeps the interior soft while the egg holds the structure.

Fat is the other half of the equation. Ground pork is considerably fattier than beef, which is what keeps a frikadelle or a bun filling moist. It also means the mixture is more fragile before it cooks, so it wants gentle handling: mix until the egg is just distributed and then stop. Overworking mince develops the meat proteins into something dense and springy.

In the noodle dishes here the egg does a different job entirely, cooked separately as ribbons or a fried topping rather than bound into the meat, contributing richness and colour on top.

Custrd matches the pork and eggs you have against tested recipes and shows what else each one needs.