Sai Ua

Ingredients

• 1 kg pork shoulder with its fat, coarsely minced
• 10 dried long red chillies
• 4 stalks lemongrass
• 40 g galangal, peeled
• 10 garlic cloves
• 8 shallots
• 3 coriander roots
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp shrimp paste (kapi)
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 12 kaffir lime leaves, central rib removed
• 1 large handful coriander leaves, chopped
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 2.5 m natural hog casings, about 32 mm wide

Before you cook

• Rinse the casings inside and out and leave them soaking in cold water.
• Soak the dried chillies in warm water for 15 minutes, then drain and chop them.
• Slice the tender lower third of each lemongrass stalk into paper-thin rounds.
• Pound the chillies, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots, coriander root, turmeric, shrimp paste and salt to a smooth paste, which takes a solid fifteen minutes in a mortar.
• Roll the kaffir lime leaves into tight cigars and shred them as finely as you possibly can.
• Mix the paste through the minced pork along with the fish sauce until the colour is completely even.
• Fold in the shredded lime leaf, chopped coriander and spring onion, then rest the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Steps

1. Fry a small patty of the mixture in a pan and taste it, then add more salt or fish sauce if it tastes flat.
2. Slide a casing onto the stuffing horn and fill it loosely, leaving the sausage slack enough to bend without splitting.
3. Coil the filled sausage into a flat spiral and pin it through with two crossed bamboo skewers.
4. Prick the coil all over with a pin so steam can escape as it cooks.
5. Let the charcoal burn down until the coals are grey and the heat is gentle enough to hold your hand above the grill for five seconds.
6. Lay the coil on the grill and cook it for 15 minutes, turning it over every 5 minutes.
7. Keep grilling for another 15 to 20 minutes, sliding the coil away from any hot spots, until the skin is bronzed and taut and the juices run clear.
8. Rest the sausage on a board for 5 minutes so it stops leaking when cut.
9. Cut it into thick diagonal slices and serve with sticky rice, raw cabbage and a bowl of roasted green chilli dip.