Sunday, August 27, 2006

Chinese Sausages Again

If you have read my earlier post Of Chinese Sausages & Hot Dogs you would know that I had previously tried to make some Chinese Sausages. Although I was happy with the taste, I was disatisfied with the end result because, instead of being smoke-dried, the sausages ended up being almost cooked.

I made a second attempt yesterday. A smaller batch this time of only a kilo of meat. I set the oven to fan-forced assisted, at a low 60degC and left them inside for a good 10-hours afterwhich they were left to cool in the oven overnight. They are still not fully dried when I took them out this morning. Not wanting to put them back in the oven to dry, I enlisted the help of Mother Nature to air dry them. I have no idea how long it will take ~ 12 ~ 24 ~ 48 hours??? I hope they will not turn bad but I guess there is enough Chinese wine in the meat to preserve it. Well you won't know till you try it right?

Freshly stuffed & drying in the oven at 60degC
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After 10 hours in the oven, they have shrunk somewhat but not fully dried
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I removed and used the 'veil' from a netted food cover to protect the sausages from dirt to finish off the drying process.
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So now, I will just twiddle my fingers and wait in anticipation for them to turn into skinny wrinkly sausages. Keep tuned to this blog for the result.

Addendum added on 1 Sep: After 24-hours of air drying, the sausages have reached the correct level of dryness. My fears of them turning bad were unfounded as the added wine had done it's job of preserving the meat. My only grouse now is that the flavor is not as intense as the commercial ones. I will have to relook at the seasoning proportions for a more flavorful sausage.

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While the sausages were drying in the oven yesterday, I managed to make a Spicy Sindhi Chicken Bryani for lunch. Taste was great except that the rice was softer than I had wanted. The bryani was accompanied by a salad of cucumbers, pineapples, large onions and green chillies tossed in tangy Indian yoghurt & washed down with a glass of refreshing Lemongrass Lemon Chiller.
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Thank you to Zurynee who pointed me to where I could purchase the Sindhi Bryani Spice Mix.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rusti, I am very interested in the sausage making too. I am wondering if you could post your recipe so that we can help you find the right ingredients and taste. Isn’t better than you doing all the tasting? Anyway, I am only suggesting.
I have this recipe like to share with you:

Tasty Chinese Sausage ( taken from Takahi oven roaster)

3 kg fresh ham
20 ft. sausage casing
2 ½ tablespoon salt
2 ½ tablespoon vesin
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon niter/ or salt peter
½ cup wine
1 teaspoon five-spice powder (Ngo Hiong)

Procedure:
1. Remove skin form pork. Separate fat from lean meat. Cut fat into 1/8-inch thick slices. Cut lean meat into 1/3 inch slices, add all the seasonings, Mix vigorously for 3 to 4 minutes, Marinate for 24 hours.
2. Soak sausage casing in warm water until soft, remove and drain.
3. Tie off one end of sausage with a string. Attach a funnel to the other end and gather sausage casing on to the funnel tube stuff marinated meat into the casing; squeeze to distribute filling evenly.
4. Using a needle, prick generously all sides of sausage to allow air out, tie sausage every 4 inches, rinse with warm water and drain. Hang outside in a well-ventilated place for (3) days.
5. Fry with Convection Roaster at 375 F for 10 minutes.
ltan

Rusti said...

Hi Anonymous
Thanks for your recipe. Give me one more try. I just bought more sausage casings and I think I am almost there. I am keeping my fingers crossed. By the way, what is "salt peter"

Anonymous said...

Thanks mate. Look forward to it. "Salt peter" is a curing salt, I think. I got a friend to get it from Germany! As I buy get it here.
Do you by any chance know how to make the "BIG SAUSAGE" that the "ngo hiong" fellow sells? You know the one that sells plain beehoon, beancakes, fishcake, fried prawns pancake...etc? They usually sell us by slicing it.
I can't find the chinese lop cheong until then, you may like to take a look at this: http://www.sausagemaking.org/forum

Anonymous said...

Hi Rusti

Got the info from Alannia (from KC)about you making lap cheong. The lap cheong we get here (in the US) is plain horrible. I've been trying to get a recipe and try to make my own. Do you mind sharing your recipe?

I have made bak kwa using Sinner's recipe and am very happy with the results (I used more sugar though). Thought I have to try making my own lap cheong!

Thanks

Vivien92130

Rusti said...

Vivien. I did not the post the recipe yet as I am still experimenting with the right proportion of marinating mix. I will be making them again this Sunday. I will have the recipe up shortly. Please bear with me in the meantime.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Rusti

Eagerly waiting to hear about your next experiment. Thanks for sharing.

I have been drooling over your bakes and dishes at KC. Keep up the good work.

Vivien92130

Anonymous said...

i've never heard of homemade lap cheong. you are right, the imported ones in the US taste rancid.

amazing experiment, keep up the good work!

estilosa said...

Very thoughtfuul blog