Hmong Style Sausages

Step 1

Chop the meat and fat into chunks of about 1-inch across, mix with the salt and set in the fridge overnight; this helps the sausage bind better.

Step 2

Mix all the herbs and spices together and mix with the meat and fat. Put the meat, the blade, die and auger from the meat grinder into the freezer for 1 hour.

Step 3

Take out some hog casings and set in a bowl of very warm water.

Step 4

Grind the meat through a coarse (6mm or 6.5mm) die. If the meat is any warmer that about 35 degrees Fahrenheit, put it back in the freezer until it cools below this point.

Step 5

Pour all three liquids over the meat and mix well with your (very clean) hands for 90 seconds to 2 minutes. You want the meat to bind to itself and form one sticky, cohesive mass.

Step 6

Stuff the sausage into the casings. Do this in large coils first, and be sure not to stuff the casings too tight at the outset. When all the meat is in casings, twist off links by pinching the sausage down and twisting it away from you. Go down the coil and pinch off another link. Twist off this link toward you. Keep doing this for the whole batch. Or, you could tie them off with butcher’s string.

Step 7

Hang the sausages in a cool place for a few hours (the colder it is, the longer you can hang them). If it is warm out, hang for one hour. Once they have dried a bit, put in the fridge until needed. They will keep for at least a week in the fridge.

Step 8

If you are freezing the sausages, wait a day before doing so. This will tighten up the sausages and help them keep their shape in the deep-freeze.