I love what Chris Ying wrote about blood sausage in the food magazine Lucky Peach, calling it “the purest distillation of sausage philosophy: Take the least obviously usable part of the animal—the blood—and make something delicious.” He notes the versions produced by various countries: black pudding (UK), boudin noir (France), morcilla (Spain), and so on. If you don’t want to make your own—which is an ambitious production for a home chef—any store-bought blood sausage of the above varieties will work for this combination.
I was making blood sausage one day and noticed that we had some beautifully fresh uni in the kitchen. When it’s good, there’s nothing else like uni (sea urchin)—I love its intense umami, lush texture, and perfect portrait of the sweet, briny ocean. We’d been using the urchin on the bone marrow, but when I tasted it against the iron-rich, spicy intensity of the blood sausage, I instantly made a switch and used the uni on this dish. It worked like a charm, creating a fascinating contrast—creamy, briny uni against meaty, chewy blood sausage.
If you do choose to attempt making blood sausage, you can order pork blood from your butcher or an Asian market. Likewise, either pork or lamb sausage casing can be ordered from your butcher; I prefer lamb for its texture and subtler taste. If your casings come in a solution, they need to be rinsed before use. If you get them packed in salt, you need to soak them in cold water for an hour, changing the water once or twice. A stand mixer with a sausage-stuffing attachment helps with this recipe.
SERVES: 4
1 pint pork blood
1 tablespoon oat flour
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 ounces cured pork lardo, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 leeks, ends trimmed and well washed, diced
½ teaspoon cayenne
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 fresh pork casing
75/25 canola/olive oil blend, for sautéing (see here)
Extra-virgin olive oil, for garnish
Maldon sea salt, for garnish
12 pieces of uni, for garnish
Place the pork blood, oat flour, and vinegar in a blender. Starting on the lowest setting and increasing the speed to high, blend until the mixture is perfectly smooth.
In a skillet over medium heat, cook the lardo until the fat is melted. Add the onion, garlic, and leeks and sauté until the vegetables are soft and translucent. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
In a large bowl, combine the pork blood mixture, sautéed vegetables, cayenne, and salt.
Attach the sausage casing to a funnel and tie the other end shut. Slowly force the sausage mixture into the funnel, being careful not to break the sausage casing. When the casing is full, tie off the end.
Bring a pot of water large enough to hold the sausage to 160 degrees F. Place the sausage in the water and weight it down with a clean kitchen towel. Gently poach the sausage for 20–30 minutes, until firm. Do not let the water boil.
Gently remove the sausage from the water and place it on a plate lined with a paper towel. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, until it is completely cool and firm.
When you are ready to serve, remove the sausage from the refrigerator and carefully slice it with a very sharp or serrated knife into 1½-inch-thick slices.
In a nonstick skillet over high heat, sear the sausage pieces in a little oil on all sides until the cut surface is crisp; flip and cook the other side until the sausage is warmed through.
Put three slices of sausage on each plate. Drizzle a little olive oil over the slices and sprinkle with Maldon salt. Top with 1 piece of uni for every 2 rounds of sausage and serve.