CHOURIÇO
Sausage
We present here some old recipes for Chouriço. Some require the sausages to be hung out to dry in the sun for some days.
Chouriço de Sutate (Sausage with soy sauce) from “Guilly” Canavarro Remedios
We have not yet tested this recipe. It is recorded here to allow experimentation and verification.
3lb | 1.3kg pork (after removing skin, bones and gristle)
1½ tbsp salt (or less to taste)
1½ tbsp pepper (or less to taste)
½ cup Japanese soy sauce, or ¼ cup Chinese soy sauce (Japanese preferred)
2 tbsp Chinese wine (Fan Chow)
1 tsp sugar
Only prepare sausages on a sunny day.
Dice pork into 3mm cubes, add the other ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Insert the end of a large funnel into the sausage casing and stuff in the meat. Tie off the ends and twist the casing to produce 5in (13cm) sausages. Tie off the sausages in groups of 4.
Dip sausages in hot water for 30 sec and prick each sausage 5-6 times to let the air out.
Hang the strings of sausages in the sun for two days (it is particularly important that the first day be sunny).
CASING
For historical interest, Guilly’s delightful description of the processing of the casing is reproduced verbatim HERE. Today in Western countries one would simply get the sausage casing from a friendly butcher.
Chouriço Vinho de Alho (Sausage with wine and garlic) from a recipe by Maria Celestina de Mello e Senna.
We have not yet tested this recipe. It is recorded here to allow experimentation and verification.
3lb | 1.3 kg minced pork
½ lb | 225g streaky bacon, finely diced
6 bay leaves*
½ tsp mild paprika
½ tsp hot paprika
2 tbsp Chinese wine or white wine
1 tsp turmeric
1 clove of garlic, finely diced
1 or 2 m of sausage skins
lard
salt and pepper to taste
1 or 2 chillies finely chopped (optional)
In a large bowl mix the minced pork, bacon, paprikas, salt, pepper, turmeric, garlic and wine (and chillies, if desired) and let stand for 24 hours.
The following day, wash and dry the sausage skin.
Before filling the skin, pass a good lump of lard from one end to the other.
Stuff the meat into the skin using a wide funnel and a wooden stick (such as the handle of a wooden spoon).
Twist the skin to form sausages and prick the skin with a needle.
Note: The original recipe gave no instructions on what to do with the bay leaves. Perhaps they should be mixed in with the other ingredients and left to stand for 24 hours, then removed before stuffing the mixture into the skin.
Chouriço Português (Portuguese sausage) from author known only as “Avó F.“
We have not yet tested this recipe. It is recorded here to allow experimentation and verification.
10 catties | 13lb | 6kg pork (preferably leg pork) cut in 3mm cubes
6 soup spoons colorau doce (sweet paprika powder)
6 taels | 230g | 8oz salt
6 taels | 230g | 8oz salitre (saltpeter)
1 whole garlic
bay leaves and cloves
white wine to cover the meat
Remove the skin, bones and gristle from the pork, leaving just the meat and fat.
Add all the other ingredients (except the wine), mix well and lastly just enough white wine to cover the meat. Keep in a cool place for a few days, stirring once or twice a day.
Remove the bay leaves and cloves and stuff the sausages.
Chouriço Vinho d’Alho (Sausage with wine and garlic) from“Guilly” Canavarro Remedios
We have not yet tested this recipe. It is recorded here to allow experimentation and verification.
1½ lb | 680g pork cut up
1 level tbsp cumin powder
1 level tsp pepper
1 tbsp salt
¾ of a whole garlic
5 tbsp coliang
½ tbsp turmeric
½ level tsp cayenne pepper or about 20 red hot chillies
4 tbsp Cantonese vinegar
Cut the pork, chop garlic very fine. Mix all other ingredients together, add to the meat and mix together. Keep for 2 days, stirring twice each day, then fill in casing, prick and expose to the sun as for chouriço de sutate above.
Fresh Sausages from “Guilly” Canavarro Remedios
We have not yet tested this recipe. It is recorded here to allow experimentation and verification.
½ lb | 220g beef
3 oz | 85g, fat part of pork (not lard)
about 1 tsp nutmeg
about 1 oz | 28g stale bread
1 tsp chopped parsley (optional)
salt and pepper
about 2 yards | 2m of sausage casing
Soak the bread in water till soft, then squeeze the water out well.
Mince the beef and pork fat together then add grated nutmeg, chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Mix all thoroughly.
Wash the casing well and fill with the meat mixture very loosely (say, ½ full), as otherwise the meat and bread will expand when boiled and the skin will burst. Divide in sections and tie a little string between each. Prick the sausages well with a pin, roll them round the pan so as to have rather a flat surface. Half cover with water and boil for 15 mins till all the water is dried up and fat comes out. Pour this fat into a frying pan (if there is no fat any clean lard will do).
Separate the sausages with a sharp knife, remove all the strings and fry the sausages until light brown. Serve with mashed potatoes.
Portuguese Sausages(1) from Annie Sousa
We have not yet tested this recipe. It is recorded here to allow experimentation and verification.
4 lbs | 1.8kg pork – cut in small pieces
1 tsp pepper
4 tsp black sweet soy sauce
1 tsp white soy sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1½ wineglass of white wine or Madeira
chilli (optional)
spoonful of cumin powder (optional)
spoonful of coriander powder (optional)
Mix all the ingredients and fill into sausage casings. Make a few pin pricks and place in the sun to dry. When oil starts oozing then the sausages are ready for use.
The pork is not to be touched by water.
(1) This seems more likely to be Macanese rather than truly Portuguese, as soy sauces are used.