Sichuan Spicy Cured Sausage (Chuanwei Xiangchang)

Ingredients

• 2kg pork shoulder, roughly 70 per cent lean to 30 per cent fat
• 40g fine sea salt
• 50g coarse chilli powder, preferably erjingtiao
• 15g ground roasted Sichuan pepper
• 30g caster sugar
• 60ml baijiu or vodka
• 1 tbsp ground white pepper
• 2 tsp five-spice powder
• 3m natural hog casings
• butcher's string, for tying

Before you cook

• Soak the hog casings in warm water for 30 minutes, then run water through them to check for holes.
• Cut the pork into 1cm dice by hand rather than mincing it, so the sausage keeps its bite.
• Mix the pork with the salt, chilli powder, ground Sichuan pepper, sugar, white pepper, five-spice and baijiu.
• Cover the mixture and leave it in the fridge for 4 hours, so the salt draws and the colour deepens.

Steps

1. Slide a casing onto the sausage stuffer nozzle, leaving a 10cm tail hanging free.
2. Feed the meat through slowly, guiding the casing off the nozzle so it fills evenly.
3. Stop when the casing is plump but not tight, then knot both ends.
4. Prick the sausage all over with a fine needle to let trapped air and moisture escape.
5. Twist and tie the length into sections about 15cm long.
6. Rinse the outside of the sausages under warm water and pat them dry.
7. Hang them in a cold, airy, shaded place where the temperature stays below 15C.
8. If your weather is warmer than that, hang them on a rack in the fridge instead and allow up to 21 days.
9. Leave them to dry for 7 to 14 days, until they have lost about a third of their weight and feel firm.
10. Bring them indoors once the surface is wrinkled and the colour has gone dark red.
11. To eat, rinse a length and steam it over boiling water for 30 minutes.
12. Let it rest for 10 minutes so the fat sets slightly.
13. Slice it on a steep diagonal as thinly as you can and serve it warm.