Thai Red Curry Sausage

Although I’ve had my KitchenAid for many years, I’ve never tried out any of the attachments. It could be said that I’ve been keeping my beloved KitchenAid from her full potential. After all, and KitchenAid is supposed to be just that…an aid in the kitchen, and not just a mixer.

That’s not to say that I haven’t thought of the attachments, day dreaming about using one or the other (my most longed-for being the ice cream maker attachment). But all these years it’s been relegated to day-dreaming, and I never got around to actually procuring one myself.

Fast forward to the KitchenAid Mini launch, where I not only saw (and subsequently fell in love with) the fabulous and adorable little sister to the standard KitchenAid (although no less powerful!), but also got the chance to re-acquaint myself with the attachments. Reacquaint and rekindle all those daydreams!

During the demo, Chef Miko Aspiras used the meat grinder to make a salmon spread. Seeing it being used in person spurred me to turn daydreams into action. I spoke to the fine folk of Focus Global (the exclusive distributors of KitchenAid in the Philippines) about how to go about procuring some attachments. They kindly offered to loan me some to try out before I made my decision (hooray and thank you!!!). So, after some deliberation and discussion, a food grinder and an ice cream maker attachment found their way to my doorstep.

The ice cream maker works with the standard KitchenAid models, and I have yet to try it out. I need to make space in the freezer for the bowl first. And if any of you are familiar with the deplorable state of my freezer you know that will take some doing. I’ll keep you posted!

Meanwhile, the food grinder works perfectly with the KitchenAid Mini (as do almost all the attachments!), making the Mini even more versatile then I originally thought. And although the grinder was not really one of my top choices for attachments before I saw Chef Miko using it, it quickly wound its way into my heart.

Why?

Because, OMG, I made my own ground meat!

Yes, that which I once just bought from a supermarket tray. I made it with my own two hands (and the food grinder). I made it in my own kitchen.

And it was so easy. And fun. And life-changing.

I had to celebrate. With sausage.

Thai Red Curry Sausage
(Adapted from From My Impossibly Tiny Kitchen)

• 1 kilo pork shoulder/kasim (make sure to get a piece with a good mix of meat and fat)
• 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 stalks lemongrass, white and very light green part only, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 inch piece ginger, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
• 2 tablespoons Thai basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce/patis
• 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
• scant 1/4 cup cornstarch

– Cut pork into 1-inch strips and place in the freezer until firm.
– While the pork is in the freezer, prepare the herb mixture. Place the garlic, lemongrass, and ginger in a food processor (I used a mini chopper) and process until finely chopped. Add the cilantro and Thai basil and pulse until everything is finely chopped.
– Once the pork is partially frozen and firm, grind in batches through the course grinder plate of the KitchenAid food grinder attachment (I used the KitchenAid Mini for this!), grinding it into the mixing bowl.
– Once all the pork is ground, add the herb mixture, fish sauce, and curry paste to the bowl. Hook up the paddle attachment to the KitchenAid and mix until thoroughly blended. Add the cornstarch and mix until just combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to sink in.
– Cook a small amount of the sausage mixture and taste to check seasoning. Adjust if needed with salt or fish sauce.
– If you have the attachment for stuffing sausages, and actual sausage casings, you can turn these into really nice sausage links. If you, like me, have neither, the you can form the mince into logs, patties, or balls and fry them in a skillet until golden brown and cooked (don’t over cook though or they will be tough!).

Cucumber and Peanut Relish
(Also adapted from From My Impossibly Tiny Kitchen)

• 1 cucumber, small dice
• 1/4 cup peanuts, crushed
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons vinegar
• dash of gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)

– Mix all the ingredients together. Taste and adjust fish sauce, sugar, and vinegar to taste. Add gochugaru depending on your heat tolerance!

Red Curry Mayonnaise
(Also adapted from From My Impossibly Tiny Kitchen)

• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 – 1 ½ teaspoons red curry paste
• Squeeze of lime juice

– Mix all the ingredients thoroughly.

I looked for sausage recipes to use with the food grinder, and although I found many delicious-sounding ones, I was (of course) attracted to this Asian inspired one by FMITK (From My Impossibly Tiny Kitchen) that used Panang curry and made it into a sandwich with a cucumber peanut relish and Panang curry mayonnaise. I swapped the Panang curry for Thai red curry, the chicken (in the original recipe) for pork, and made a few slight tweaks, and got what we have here! These come out really savory, packed with Asian flavors, and just a touch bit spicy. Both my kids liked them!

I don’t have a sausage stuffer, nor sausage casings, so I formed these into balls and patties. As with the original recipe, I decided to turn this into a sandwich…my own take on an Asian meatball sub! I spread my red curry mayo on the bun and stuffed it with the sausage balls, carrot strips, cucumber and peanut relish, some cilantro, and Thai basil. I also did little bruschetta-like toasts with the patties, using the red curry mayo and carrots, then topping the patties with pickled guava and pineapple sambal (made by Purple Yam Malate, which I scored at the Philippine Harvest fair mounted by our Department of Agriculture).

Although I’ve done versions of sandwiches here, these definitely would be perfect with a hot bowl of rice, and, I’m thinking, some sweet chili sauce. Mmmm!

Having the food grinder opens up all sorts of possibilities…sausage, longanisa, chorizo, hamburgers from scratch, custom mincemeat blends, et al. Most importantly though it ensures that I can now have fresh ground meat, made to order when I need it, out of the meat I choose.

But hold on…I don’t have the food grinder attachment yet. This one’s on loan, but you can be sure I will be heading out to buy my own very very soon!!