Happy New Year!
On this New Year's Eve, we over here at the S.P. Sausage Laboratory were struck by the sheer cockiness of Sriracha chili paste, as we mixed it into our severely over-spiced Bloody-Marys. The flavor just came on so strong, dancing down our taste buds and nipping at our appetites; we loved it. When our palates came to the next afternoon, in between the bitter troughs of anticlimax and soured scotch, that Sriracha flavor remained.
We were inspired. So inspired, in fact, that we crafted two Sriracha-sauced sausages: one in pork, and the other in poultry.
Salt-Peter Sriracha Sausage:
Meat
- Pork Shoulder
OR
- Turkey Thighs
- Chicken Thighs
- Chicken Hearts
Herbs & Veggies
- Cilantro
- Green Onion
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| Sriracha may be cocky, but Garlic always hogs the stage. |
Spices
- Coarse Salt
- Ginger
- Smoked Garlic
- Ground Peppercorns
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| Though none could explain it later, all three liquids felt pulled towards the cup of goo. |
Liquid Seasonings
- Sriracha Chili Paste
- Honey
- Tamarind
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This was the perfect opportunity to debut S.P.'s new 5 lb. vertical sausage press. You may not think you've heard of this character, but it has many aliases - from the expected:
Seymour the Stuffer
Il Cuore del Cucina
The Plunger from Down Under
The Congressman
to the overly literal:
The Stainless Steel Cylinder Capable of Extruding Forcemeat Under Low Pressures
...
and, the immutable:
Silvio
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| Silvio, ready for another round... |
Woah??!?! Did you catch that? Did you see how fast that sausage shot out of Silvio?
Yeah, I almost missed it, too. Let's mix up a little more, and see that again.
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| [Editor's note: This caption has also been removed for chokingly inappropriate and suggestive phrases, comments and imperatives.] |
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| Silvio goes for round two. |
Silvio was so impressive, with his deft sausagery, that he almost overshadowed the Sriracha sausage itself!
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| Silvio pushes out another fabulous coil of Sriracha Sausage. This time: Poultry! |
The stuffing complete, we could hardly contain ourselves, so we [Editor's note, the intervening words and descriptions have been removed due to downright absurd morals and reprehensible character. Side Note: Anyone interested in applying for the job of editor, or Chief Sausagebwana - or whatever it is that S.P. actually calls himself - is encouraged to do so forthwith, in the comments section.]
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| As evidenced by the juice, we may have cut into this sausage a little too early. |
We did not allow our initial mis-cut to dampen our spirits, however, and soon had a more easily edible sausage. All it took was a lower, slower (thank you, BBQ) cooking.
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| Low and Slow makes S.P. a dull bo-[Editor's Note: I F*%$ing hate this job.] |
In all seriousness, this sausage was tremendous: full-flavored, aromatic, and bursting with juice. Some taste-testers compared it to the fillings of the finest Chinese dumplings. I tend to agree, though it escaped the mealiness common to dumplings.
On a second batch, S.P. resorted to a new favorite technique for cooking sausage: Boil the raw sausage slowly in salt water until juuust up to temperature, then let it cool. Once cool enough that most of the juice has reabsorbed into the meat, cut the coil into small slices, and pan-fry the heck out of them. Thus refined, we get a caramelized and crispy morsel that can be popped in the mouth repeatedly, [Editor's Note: Oh, nevermind] encouraging over-consumption.
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| Some kinds of happiness just can't be bought. Others are sweet, crispy, and can be purchased for approximately $8/lb. through special request. |
S.P. was very pleased with this sausage. So was Ebeneezer, but that's a story for another time. When we eventually come back to this sausage for another round of testing, it may behoove us to add cooked, chopped rice as a filler and juice-absorber.
Bloody-Marys anyone?
Stay tuned for Kabob Sausage, coming soon!
-S.P.
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