Char Siu Pork Sausage

Recipe: Char Siu Pork Sausage

A Chinese BBQ-inspired fresh sausage with authentic char siu flavours.

Note: Char siu (叉烧) is Chinese BBQ pork. This recipe attempts to capture those same sweet, savoury, smoky flavours in sausage form.

Ingredients

Pork shoulder (70/30 lean-fat ratio) 1000g

Fermented red bean curd 30g

Light soy sauce 20ml

Dark soy sauce 10ml

Shaoxing wine 20ml

Hoisin sauce 25g

Oyster sauce 15g

Honey (in mix) 18g

Five spice powder 3g

White pepper 2g

Garlic, minced 6g

MSG 2g

Salt 4g

Sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) 1.5g

Prague Powder #1 (6.25% sodium nitrite) 2.5g

Ice cold water 30ml

Honey (for glaze) 40g

Hog casings (32-35mm) 2.5m

Apple or cherry wood chips A handful

Instructions

Prepare the Cure

Dissolve the salt, Prague Powder #1, STPP, and MSG into the ice cold water. Stir until fully dissolved.
Mash the red bean curd to a smooth paste and add to the cure mixture.
Add light soy, dark soy, Shaoxing wine, hoisin, oyster sauce, mix honey, five spice, white pepper and minced garlic.
Whisk everything into a combined slurry.

Prepare the Meat

Place your mincing and stuffing equipment in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
Cut pork shoulder into rough 3-4cm cubes. Keep very cold (below 4°C - partially frozen is ideal).
Grind once through a medium plate (6-8mm).
Spread the ground meat on a tray and return to the fridge for 15 minutes.
Optionally mince the meat a second time.

Mix and Rest

Pour the combined cure and flavour slurry over the cold ground pork.
Mix by hand or in a stand mixer for 4-5 minutes until the mixture becomes very tacky.
Keep below 10°C throughout. Chill briefly if the mix starts to warm.
Fry a small patty and taste. Adjust salt if needed.

Stuff and Prepare for Smoking

Thread soaked casings onto your stuffing tube.
Stuff firmly at consistent pressure, avoiding air pockets.
Twist or tie into 10-12cm links. Prick any air bubbles with a fine needle. Air bubbles cause pockets where fat collects and prevents the casing from adhering to the meat correctly. This results in an unpleasant casing texture.
Hang the sausages uncovered in the fridge for at least 4 hours (ideally overnight) to dry the casing surface.

Hot Smoke

Set up your smoker with apple or cherry wood chips and bring to 110-120°C.
Smoke until internal temperature reaches 68-70°C. Use a probe thermometer.

Glaze and Finish

Once sausages hit 68-70°C internally, brush generously with honey.
Cook until glaze caramelises and internal temperature reaches 72°C.

Notes

STPP at 1.5g/kg improves moisture retention.
Drying the casing before smoking is critical as it lets the smoke adhere properly and develops better colour.

Mathew Power

Software engineer, cyclist, vegetable grower, and cook from Sussex.