Destination
Koh Samui
The story
Sai ua is Chiang Mai's most-photographed food and Lanna's proudest culinary export: a coarse-textured pork sausage packed with fresh lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, garlic, shallots, red curry paste and turmeric, stuffed into a natural pork casing and grilled slowly over charcoal until the outside is burnt-red and the fat has partially rendered out. Sliced into 5cm coins and served with sticky rice, raw vegetables (cabbage, long beans, cucumber) and a small dish of nam prik noom (northern Thai roasted green chili dip). Sold at every Chiang Mai market and every Lanna restaurant, and increasingly across Thailand as Bangkok has caught on to Lanna cuisine. Every Chiang Mai family has a preferred sai ua shop; Nong Ohh Sai Ua (Chiang Mai) is legendary.
Method
Soak natural hog casings in cold water 30 minutes. Rinse inside and out by running water through them. Drain.
Chop pork shoulder into small dice (about 5mm) with a heavy knife on a wooden board. Do not use a food processor — you want visible chunks.
In a large bowl, combine chopped pork with all the minced aromatics, red curry paste, turmeric, fish sauce, oyster sauce, palm sugar, pepper and salt. Mix thoroughly with your hands for 3 minutes so everything is well-integrated.
Cover and refrigerate 60 to 90 minutes so the flavours meld.
Fry a small teaspoon of the mixture in a pan for 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the raw filling with more salt, fish sauce or palm sugar as needed.
Slide a casing onto a sausage stuffer nozzle (or a large funnel). Fill the casing with the pork mixture, twisting off into 15cm links as you go. Prick each link a few times with a needle to release air pockets.
Heat a charcoal grill to medium-low (coals white-ashy). A cast-iron ridged pan on medium heat is the practical indoor substitute.
Grill the sausages 20 minutes, turning every 3 to 4 minutes, until the outside is deep burnt-red and the internal temperature is 75C. Rest 5 minutes. Slice into 3cm coins. Serve on a platter with sticky rice, raw vegetables, nam prik noom and lime wedges.
Tips
- Coarse chop, not mince. The Lanna signature is visible chunks of aromatics and pork. A food processor turns everything to paste — do not use.
- Fresh aromatics essential. Dried lemongrass or kaffir lime don't work. Fresh only — the classical Lanna sausage is defined by the fresh-aromatic burst.
- Natural hog casings. Collagen or plastic casings don't give you the classical texture. Any butcher will sell natural casings — rinse well.
- Slow grill. Twenty minutes over medium-low heat. High heat burns the outside before the inside cooks and doesn't give you the deep burnt-red colour.
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