As the countdown to the Chinese New Year is less than 100 days, the New Year Festival is coming shortly! Traditionally, people will enjoy various delicious foods during the New Year Festival and share the happiest hours with their family members; in particular, sausages are the mainstay of the festival table. You’re probably familiar with German sausages, such as Bratwurst, but have you heard of Sichuan sausage in China? Chinese sausages have a long history as one of the traditional Chinese foods that appeared in China as early as 1500 years ago. Unlike other sausages, Sichuan sausage has a unique pungent, spicy, tingly, and smoky flavor that once you take a bite, there’s no way you could resist!

In fact, people living in Sichuan have already started their preparation for making sausages. The open market will have a swamp of buyers who will go after fresh pork, ingredients, and sausage casings in the early morning. Besides, you’ll witness the scene of sausages hanging outside people’s houses or in their backyards. Do you also feel the urge to take a try to have your own handmade Sichuan sausages? Follow us, and we’ll provide you a simple guide to make Sichuan sausages:

Step 1: Buy fresh pork, wash and clean it before making it dry

Cut your pork and make sure you cut them into thin slices

Step 2: Put the meat into a bowl and mix with white wine, black pepper powder, spice powder, ground Sichuan pepper, chicken seasoning (or MSG), salt, and sugar. Mix all the ingredients with the meat and let stand for 2 hours (or sometimes 8-10 hours if you want it more flavored)

Step 3: Clean and wash your castings. Put the meat mixture in the casing and tie it with dried corn husk or cotton. (You can also prick the stuffed castings by using toothpicks so that you can let the air out.)

Step 4: Sterilize the sausages by brushing them with Chinese white wine. Then wash them with hot water. At last, hang the sausages outside for 15 days (half a month). Please make sure you put them under the sun or at a well-ventilated place.

Sichuan sausages are great appetizers, and people typically enjoy them as drink snacks. Besides the sausage, people in Sichuan are also proud of their handmade smoked bacon (La Rou). The sausages and the smoked bacon are both easy to store during the winter. Hence they are the best choices to be served as the New Year food. You should never miss these unique cuisines in Sichuan as a meat lover if you pay a visit there!