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| Visitors to Thai Nguyen are always impressed by the local dishes, including sausage. |
My mother is Tay ethnic, so for me, smoked sausage is both a specialty and a part of my memories. Every year, when the cold winds arrive, my mother starts preparing to make the sausage.
My mother told me that when she was little, her grandmother was very skilled at making Chinese sausage. My mother inherited this skill from her grandmother, through her memory and hands, during the pig slaughtering sessions at the end of the year. No one remembers exactly when Chinese sausage first appeared. But according to the elders, this dish originated during those years of poverty and hunger.
In the old days, Tay and Nung families would only slaughter one pig each year for Tet (Lunar New Year). Part of the meat was used for the feast and as filling for cakes; the rest had to be preserved to be eaten sparingly throughout the year. The Tay people hung everything in the kitchen attic: meat, fish, bamboo shoots, and other fruits.
Day after day, the smoke from the kitchen stove dries the food, preventing it from spoiling. This gave rise to the concept of "lap" in Tay cuisine . "Lap" refers to dishes that are dried, salted, and seasoned for long-term preservation. And one of those dishes is sausage (lap suon).
In the Tay language, sausage is called "pong sang." The name sounds simple, but making a delicious batch of sausage is far from easy. The first step is selecting the intestines for the casing. Not just any part of the intestine can be used. The Tay people usually choose the section of young intestine adjacent to the old intestine; this part is typically bitter, thick, chewy, and can withstand the long smoking process.
The intestines are rubbed with salt or vinegar, washed several times, then rinsed with alcohol to clean and freshen them. Afterward, the cook must inflate them, tie both ends, and hang them in a well-ventilated place to firm up. This step alone requires patience and experience. The most important step is selecting the meat. The pork must be fresh, dark red, with translucent white fat and thin skin.
In the highlands of Thai Nguyen, local pigs are raised free-range, feeding on corn, wild vegetables, and natural bran, resulting in exceptionally flavorful meat. The meat is finely chopped and marinated with spices: salt, pepper, mắc khén (a type of wild pepper), mountain ginger, rice wine, etc. Each family has its own secret recipe, and no two are alike. After marinating, the meat is stuffed into pig intestines. The person doing the stuffing simultaneously pricks the intestines with needles to allow air to escape, preventing cracking or breakage.
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| Sausage products from the Nong Van Khanh family. |
Sausages are tied into sections and then sun-dried for two to three days before being hung in the kitchen loft. In the loft, the sausages are smoked by wood and sugarcane. In many villages, sugarcane bagasse is used to fuel the stove, creating a sweet, mild smoke that permeates the meat.
The sausage, "nourished by the sun, wind, and heat," gradually turns a reddish-pink color, becoming glossy and interspersed with creamy white fat veins, creating a truly culinary beauty. Nowadays, sausage is no longer just hung in the kitchen attic for later consumption. Its flavor has followed tourists, spreading beyond the village.
During Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year), visitors to Thai Nguyen can easily spot sausages hanging from the eaves of stilt houses, by the fireplace, or displayed for sale at local markets and tourist areas. The aroma of sausages, mingled with the scent of sticky rice cakes and peach blossoms, creates a unique "symphony of scents" characteristic of the highlands.
Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-hoa/202601/huong-goi-mua-xuan-356426f/
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