An iconic dish of Northern Thailand, "sai ua" is one of the most flavourful sausages I can think of. The pork is mixed with an aromatic curry paste, grilled, then served with sticky rice and fresh veggies. Yum!
Making sausages doesn't have to be a lot of work, though. Once you make the mixture, if you don't want to go through the process of stuffing the sausages, you can make patties, balls, or make "caseless sausages" I like showed in the video!
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"Sai Ua" Northern Thai Sausage ไส้อั่ว
- Yield: Serves 4-5
Ingredients
Sai Ua Curry Paste
- 6-8 g dried chilies (see note)
- 3 slices galangal, chopped
- 1 stalk lemongrass, bottom half only, thinly sliced
- 2 inches turmeric root or 1 ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ⅓ cup chopped shallots
- 4 cloves garlic
- Zest from half a kaffir lime (totally optional!)
- 1 teaspoon fermented shrimp paste (gapi)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
The Rest
- 1 lb ground pork (get fattiest ground pork you can find)
- 5 kaffir lime leaves, center stems removed, thinly julienned and minced
- 5-6 stems cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 small green onions, finely chopped
Note: You can make this as spicy or mild as you like. I used arbol chilies which are medium spicy. You can leave seeds in for extra spice or remove them to lessen the heat. If using Thai smaller dried chilies, be careful as they are very hot!
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Instructions
Grind dried chilies in a coffee grinder until fine.
If using an immersion blender, blend all curry paste ingredients together until fine.
If using a mortar and pestle, grind lemongrass, galangal, turmeric and kaffir lime zest (if using) first until fine, adding the dried chilies in once the mixture starts to feel wet. Then add garlic and shallots and pound until fine. Add shrimp paste and pound to mix. Stir fish sauce in at the very end.
Using your hands, and I recommend wearing latex gloves for this part, knead together the pork and the curry paste until thoroughly mixed. Then add cilantro, green onion and kaffir lime leaves and knead it in just until combined.
To make caseless sausages: follow the wrapping method shown in the video and allow the sausages to rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight. Then gently unpack them onto a foil-lined tray and cook the sausages on the top rack under the broiler until browned on one side, about 4-5 minutes. Then flip the sausage and brown the other side. After this point, there should be a lot of liquid on the pan, so I like to transfer them onto a rack to finish the broiling so the sausages come out dry and well caramelized. Tip: if you have a sensitive smoke alarm consider changing out the foil halfway through as the juices may burn after prolonged broiling! Let the sausages rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing. Alternatively, if you have a baking sheet with drain holes like I had in the video, you can just use that and you don't need to transfer them halfway through, but make sure to oil the tray first to prevent sticking.
To make sausage patties: Let the pork mixture rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight. When ready to cook, form the patties with your hands. Preheat a skillet over medium heat and add just enough oil to coat the bottom. Pan-fry the patties until well browned on both sides and fully cooked, which should take just few minutes depending on the thickness of the patties.
If making stuffed sausages: Stuff the sausage into the casing and let it rest for at least 2 hours in the fridge or preferably overnight before cooking. Poke lots of little holes in the casing with a toothpick to prevent the sausage from breaking when cooking. Grill or fry the sausages until browned and fully cooked. Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting.
Serve these as appetizers or with the main meal. In Thailand we often serve this with fresh crunchy vegetables and sticky rice. Enjoy!
Dave says
Gonna try this recipe so can’t comment too much but yep, the lady’s right, tastiest sausage I’ve ever eaten. Sai ua is the epitome of sausage. I have only ever bought it from a Thai lady here in the uk. It’s £20 for 1/2kg but worth every penny
Nyfallio says
Oh my god, I’m so happy with this recipe. I’m in the chiang mai province now and I cannot stop eating these sausages. So good!
Brenda says
I just made them but haven’t gotten to cook them yet cause they’re resting in the fridge. Can I cook these in the oven? I don’t have a grill but don’t want to pan fry either cause of all the smoke that’ll fill my house. If so, at what temp and for how long?
Pailin Chongchitnant says
You can cook them in the oven, but they won't brown nicely and won't look great. So I'd cook them off at 425°F, timing I'm guessing 10 mins but you'll have to keep checking. Then for browning I'd put them under the broiler on high just until they have some colour.
Candice says
Does this method works for Issan sausages as well? Issan sausages need some fermentations of the rice in it. Would it work without casing?
Pailin Chongchitnant says
I think it wouldn't hold together enough...also I wouldn't mess with fermentation cuz it needs a very specific condition to work.
Tero says
Greets from Finland 🙂
Simply: YUMMY!
perry says
pretty good, but a tip, its only the US/canada that have 'broilers'. For the rest of the world its called a griller. Ditto for Cilantro. GlennR's comment about letting the casings dry out is really important, if they dont dry out they stick when cooking.
GlennR says
I just made this recipe. I stuffed it in hog casings, and let it sit uncovered on a rack in my refrigerator for 24 hours to allow the flavors to marry and the casings to dry out. Then I smoked it on my smoker to an internal temperature of 160˚. It's excellent. I did add a tablespoon of soy sauce for a touch saltiness. I wish I could post an image of it here. It's as visually appealing to the eyes, as it is packed full of herbal flavors to the palette.
Pailin Chongchitnant says
So glad it turned out well! The smoking sounds like a fantastic addition 🙂
Charissa says
Can these be made ahead and frozen?
Pailin Chongchitnant says
Totally! It will freeze just like any other sausages.
Brian says
In your recipes when you say to use “1 makrut leaf” would this be the pair of leaflets on a stem or just one of them? I am always unsure as they grow as paired lobes.
Pailin Chongchitnant says
I mean 1 leaf, not both leaves. I understand the confusion, but the reason I do it this way is because 1) You can't really add too much of this stuff, so if you took it to mean 1 pair, it's no harm done. 2) for most people who buy the leaves, the pair will usually come apart in the package and so you'll find most of the leaves a singles.
Stefan says
Thanks for the awesome recipe. Tried it, and it was great!
If you had to use store bought curry paste, though, which type and brand and which ground meat to curry paste ratio would you recommend? In that case, would you add any other ingredients, e. g. extra turmeric?
Thanks!
Pailin Chongchitnant says
Glad to hear! So, just a guess here, I'd probably use 3 Tbsp of Maeploy red curry plus the turmeric. You'd have to use less fish sauce though, so I'd cook up some and taste for seasoning.
Philip Nicholson says
Has salt been left out?
Adam from HTK says
Hi Philip, Adam here, and no it's in the fish sauce if that's what you mean 🙂
Chris juricich says
Fish sauce provides the saltiness.
michael keck says
I made this x10 is there a curry paste that is already made i can use instead of making my own?
Aidan says
I doubled the recipe and allowed it to rest in the fridge overnight. I then stirred in a few herbs I had in the fridge - sawtooth, rau ram, coriander, and Thai basil - then stuffed cleaned squid with the mixture. Before putting them on the grill, I brushed the squid lightly with oil and cooked them using indirect heat until the sausage was cooked, then moved them to the hot side for a wee bit more char. After resting, I sliced them and served them hot with sweet chili sauce, although they were also good dragged through the sauce for Crying Tiger. I think next time I will make a larger batch, stuff them in pork casings (Amazon had everything!) and keep them in the freezer. One sausage with some sticky rice and cucumber salad makes a wonderful lunch.
perry says
Fish sauce is a variable beast. most of the ones we get outside of Thailand/SE Asia is pretty benign, BUT if you're lucky enough to find a store that keeps the Famous Vietnamese 3 Crabs brand Be real careful. Its been fermented and is quite the package. Dee-lish, but go easy on it, its v strong
Derek Phillippo says
I have been making these sausages for a long time, one time I thought I will try this sausage mixture in sausage rolls. Worked a treat topped with your sweet chilli sauce. Yum, Yum.
Rachael says
Delicious! I divided the recipe in half and left out the chili from one half for my kids. Everyone loved it. We made it into patties 😀
Pallavi says
Love love LOVE this recipe. Its hard to go wrong, even if i mess up the quantities of herbs and spices(i leave out gapi coz its hard to find), but it always tastes yum!