Sai Grog (Thai Spicy Sausage)

Sai Grog (also spelled Sai Krok) is a Thai grilled sausage packed with the aromatics that define Southeast Asian cooking: lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, cilantro, red curry paste, and fish sauce. Ground pork gets mixed with this fragrant paste, stuffed into casings, and grilled until the skin is blistered and the inside is juicy and spicy.

The red curry paste does most of the flavor work, bringing chili heat, galangal, shrimp paste, and garlic in one ingredient. Crushed coriander seeds add a citrusy, slightly sweet note that complements the lemongrass and lime leaves. Fish sauce ties everything together with its salty, funky depth.

The pinhole trick is essential. Poke a small hole on each side of the sausage links before they hit the grill. Without those vents, steam builds inside the casing and the sausages burst open, losing all their juices into the fire.

Serve these hot off the grill with sticky rice. In Thailand, you’d eat them with raw cabbage leaves, sliced ginger, and bird’s eye chilies on the side.

Chef Tips

• Use a teaspoon to fill the casings slowly and avoid air pockets. Air pockets expand on the grill and cause blowouts.
• Tie the links every 5 inches for consistent sizing and even cooking.
• Grill over medium heat, not high. High heat chars the outside before the pork cooks through. You want brown and blistered, not blackened.
• If kaffir lime leaves are hard to find, check the freezer section of Asian grocery stores. Frozen leaves work just as well.

Variations

• Mix in cooked sticky rice for Sai Krok Isan, the Northeastern Thai version with a slightly tangy, fermented flavor.
• Substitute chicken for pork for a lighter sausage.
• Skip the casings and form the mixture into patties for easier grilling.