Grilled+Thai+sausages


 * Grilled Sausage--Issan Style (Sai Grok) **

This is not truly authentic for safety reasons...something to do with the risks involved with fermenting pork. Occasionally, you can find this sausage frozen at the Oriental market--usually says Chinese sour sausage on it.

__//Ingredients://__ //3 1/2 pounds pork shoulder, ground // //1 pound skinless pork belly, ground // //1 pound cooked long grain rice or steamed sticky rice, ground to a coarse paste (best to use heavy-duty mortar & pestle) // //8 bulbs (approx 32 cloves) peeled garlic (puréed or hand-ground to a paste like the rice above) // //5 teaspoons salt // //4 teaspoons granulated sugar // //4 teaspoons Bactoferm LHP (dissolved in half a cup of water) // //1 teaspoon ground white peppercorns // //1 teaspoon Curing Salt #1 // //Box of sausage casings //

__Directions:__ 1. Use mortar & pestle to smash the cooked rice into coarse, chunky paste then set aside in a bowl. 2. Use mortar & pestle to grind garlic, peppercorns, and sugar together, sprinkling with fish sauce as you grind your paste. 3. Mix all ground pork shoulder, ground pork belly, rice paste, and garlic paste together. (Big bowl, gloves & your hands) 4. Sprinkle the remaining ingredients all over the surface of the meat paste; mix very well. 5. Fill the paste into the hog casings; follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your sausage stuffer. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">6. The filled sausage should be approximately 1.5 inches in diameter. Twist the filled sausage at 6-inch intervals or 2.5-inch intervals. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">7. Hang the sausage links to dry and ferment in a well-ventilated area for 48 hours. Alternatively, the sausage links can be arranged in a single layer on a cooling rack with a tight grid; make sure you allow at least 2 inches of space between the countertop and the bottom of the rack. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">8. The sausage is ready to be cooked after 48 hours of fermentation. The most ideal cooking method is to grill it over low coals. The 6-inch links can be separated into individual pieces and grilled on a stick; the 2.5-inch links can be grilled in a large coil and cut into individual balls when served. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">9. You can store most of them in the freezer & use a bit at a time if you like.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Yields approximately 5 1/2 pounds of cooked sausage