Spicy Thai Sausage

Makes 2 pounds

Active time: 1 hour, including 30 minutes to chill meat

Start to finish: 2 hours

VARIATIONS

Add 1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped lemongrass to sausage mixture.

Substitute soy sauce for fish sauce and Chinese chile paste with garlic for red curry paste.

Substitute 1 additional pound chicken for pork and pork fat.

Sausages like these appear frequently in traditional Thai cuisine. The aromatic basil and cilantro, spicy chiles, and robust curry paste makes these a very special and spicy treat.

Medium hog sausage casings (optional)

1 pound boneless chicken breast meat with skin attached

1/2 pound pork butt or boneless country ribs

1/2 pound pork fat

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, preferably Thai basil

2 scallions, white parts and 4 inches of green tops, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeño or serrano chile, seeds and ribs removed, and finely chopped

3 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)

1 tablespoon red curry paste

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1. If using sausage casings, prepare them as directed.

2. Cut chicken, pork, and pork fat into 1-inch cubes. Place cubes on a sheet of plastic wrap on a plate and freeze for 30 minutes, or until very firm.

3. Grind meat and fat through the fine disk of a meat grinder, or in small batches in a food processor fitted with the steel blade using the on-and-off pulse button. If using a food processor, do not process into a paste, but ingredients should be very finely chopped.

4. Combine ground meat, cilantro, basil, scallions, garlic, chile, fish sauce, curry paste, and cayenne in a mixing bowl, and knead mixture until well blended. Fry 1 tablespoon of mixture in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.

5. Stuff mixture into casings as described, if using, and twist off into 5-inch links; prick air bubbles with a straight pin or skewer. If time permits, arrange links on a wire rack over a baking sheet and air-dry uncovered in the refrigerator for 1 day before cooking. Alternately, if keeping sausage in bulk, refrigerate mixture for at least 30 minutes to blend flavors.

6. Cook sausages as directed to an internal temperature of 165°F when pierced with an instant-read thermometer or as directed in a specific recipe.

Note: Sausages can be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen up to 2 months. Once cooked, they can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

Fish sauce, also called nam pla, is a salty sauce with an extremely pungent odor made from fermented fish. It’s used as a dipping sauce/condiment and seasoning ingredient throughout Southeast Asia. Nam pla is the Thai term; it’s known as nuoc nam in Vietnam and shottsuru in Japan.