Thai-inspired sausage brings a completely different character to the home sausage maker's repertoire. Instead of relying primarily on dried spices, its flavour is built around the fresh, vibrant aromatics that make Southeast Asian cooking so distinctive.
Fragrant herbs, fresh garlic, warming curry spices and the savoury depth of fish sauce combine to produce a sausage that is bold and aromatic without losing the flavour of the meat itself. But perhaps its most unusual ingredient is sticky rice.
The rice does more than add substance. Incorporated into the sausage mixture, it contributes a distinctive, slightly rustic texture and helps make this sausage quite different from the bratwursts and other European-style sausages many home sausage makers are familiar with.
Another important part of this recipe is patience. Once the sausages have been stuffed, allowing them to rest overnight in the refrigerator gives the herbs, spices and aromatics time to develop and come together. By the following day, the flavour is noticeably more rounded and complex.
Cooked over the barbecue until beautifully browned, these sausages are juicy, intensely aromatic and full of Southeast Asian character. They're an excellent example of just how diverse sausage making can be—and a delicious change when you want something far removed from the familiar flavours of a traditional bratwurst.
