Hmong sausage
{{Short description|Long thick pork sausage seasoned with herbs}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Hmong sausage
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| image = File:Hmong cuisine - sausage and spring roll crop.jpg
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| caption = Sausage meal from a Wisconsin Hmong restaurant
| alternate_name = {{lang|hmn|nyhuv ntxwm hmoob}} (Hmong)
| type = sausage
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| region = Hmong diaspora, Southeast Asia
| associated_cuisine = Hmong cuisine
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| served = hot
| main_ingredient = {{unbulleted list|pork|lemongrass|Thai chili|ginger or galangal}}
| minor_ingredient = {{unbulleted list|monosodium glutamate|salt|black pepper|garlic|scallions|shallots|fish sauce|oyster sauce|Kaffir lime leaf or lime juice}}
| variations = spicy, ginger, made with blood, egg roll-style
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| similar_dish = Lao sausage
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}}Hmong sausage (Hmong: {{lang|hmn|nyhuv ntxwm hmoob}}{{cite book |last1=Scripter |first1=Sami |last2=Yang |first2=Sheng |author-link= |date=March 2023 |title=Cooking from the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8tSYa32W5iUC&q=hmong%20sausage |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |page=134 |isbn=978-0-8166-5327-0}}) is a long thick pork sausage from Hmong culture seasoned with herbs like lemongrass and Thai chili pepper. The sausage is popular during Hmong New Year celebrations. The exact recipe varies depending on factors such as clan and individual immigration background.
Hmong being a diaspora incorporate a wide variety of ingredients, methods, and cultural backgrounds in Hmong cuisine such as Hmong sausage. There is no standard recipe for Hmong sausage, but the key ingredients are coarse ground fatty pork cuts such as pork belly and pork shoulder, Thai chili peppers, lemongrass, Kaffir lime leaf or lime juice, and fresh ginger root or galangal.{{Cite book |title=The Immigrant-Food Nexus: Borders, Labor, and Identity in North America |first1=Julian |last1=Agyeman |first2=Sydney |last2=Giacalone |name-list-style=vanc |publisher=MIT Press |date=24 March 2020 |isbn=9780262538411 |series=Food, Health, and the Environment |pages=270 |doi=10.7551/mitpress/11862.001.0001 |language=en |chapter-url=https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edited-volume/4614/chapter/625666/Boiled-Chicken-and-Pizza-The-Making-of |chapter=13: Boiled Chicken and Pizza: The Making of Transnational Hmong American Foodways |doi-access=free |access-date=11 November 2023 |archive-date=11 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111161021/https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edited-volume/4614/chapter/625666/Boiled-Chicken-and-Pizza-The-Making-of |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Shah |first=Khushbu |date=10 December 2020 |title=Finding Home in a Hmong Food Cart |url=https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/restaurants/las-hmong-food-cart-laotian-food-la-vang-herr |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=Food & Wine |language=en |issn=0741-9015 |id={{EBSCOhost|146797111|dbcode=f6h}} |archive-date=2023-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023004239/https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/restaurants/las-hmong-food-cart-laotian-food-la-vang-herr |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Tandler |first=Natasha |date=28 May 2019 |title=La's Celebrates Hmong Food Culture One Sausage at a Time |url=https://www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-city-life/2019/05/la-s-celebrates-hmong-food-culture-one-sausage-at-a-time |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Portland Monthly |language=en-US}} Other common ingredients are salt, black pepper, garlic, scallions, shallots, fish sauce, oyster sauce, cilantro, green onion, Serrano pepper, and monosodium glutamate (MSG).{{cite web |url=https://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=24955&p=267223 |title=Hmong Food and Culture in Saint Paul MN |last=G |first=Rene |date=10 June 2009 |website=LTH Forum |publisher= |access-date=21 October 2023 |quote=}}{{Cite web |title=Hmong Sausage With Purple Sticky Rice & Tiger Bite Sauce |url=https://www.tastemade.com/recipes/hmong-sausage-with-purple-sticky-rice-and-tiger-bite-sauce |date=9 October 2023 |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=Tastemade |language=en |archive-date=2023-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023004241/https://www.tastemade.com/recipes/hmong-sausage-with-purple-sticky-rice-and-tiger-bite-sauce |url-status=live }} Fresh aromatic herbs are prioritized for flavor and are visible under the sausage casing.{{Cite web |date=2023-08-06 |title=Hmong chef Yia Vang brings a taste of home to Minnesota's Twin Cities |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/hmong-chef-yia-vang-brings-a-taste-of-home-to-minnesotas-twin-cities |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us |archive-date=2023-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024002020/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/hmong-chef-yia-vang-brings-a-taste-of-home-to-minnesotas-twin-cities |url-status=live }} One commercial producer sells a number of popular variations: original (no chilies), spicy (with chilies), ginger, made with pork blood, and "egg roll-style" made with vermicelli noodles and other egg roll fillings.
The sausage is usually sold and served fresh, although some variations are lightly fermented or cured. Commercial outlets ship the sausage frozen.{{Cite web |last=G |first=Rene |date=7 May 2013 |title=Phongsavan — Milwaukee's Hmong Marketplace (with Food Court) |url=https://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=589400 |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=LTH Forum}}{{Cite web |last=Imanine |first=Elyse |date=14 June 2021 |title=I Spent My Life Assimilating, but My Father's Recipe Reminds Me of Who I Am |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/story/yia-vang-fathers-recipe |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=Bon Appétit |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023005742/https://www.bonappetit.com/story/yia-vang-fathers-recipe |url-status=live }}
Hmong sausage is typically grilled at a low heat and served as large slices with steamed white rice or purple sticky rice, another signature Hmong dish, pan fried with blanched cabbage, or with pho soup.{{Cite web |last=Sheidlower |first=Noah |date=16 July 2023 |title=Hmong cuisine and culture are having a moment in the US. We spoke with the restaurateurs and farmers driving innovation. |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/hmong-cuisine-culture-philosophy-business-food-industry-renaissance-farming-agriculture-2023-6 |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024002020/https://www.businessinsider.com/hmong-cuisine-culture-philosophy-business-food-industry-renaissance-farming-agriculture-2023-6 |url-status=live }} Sour and spicy sauces are served on the side, especially a Hmong sauce made with Thai chilies called "pepper dip". Reflecting the diverse backgrounds of Hmong people, some restaurants offer "Thai-style" or "Lao-style" preparations.{{Cite web |last=Rayno |first=Amelia |date=2 May 2018 |title=10 must-eat foods at St. Paul's two massive Hmong markets |url=https://www.startribune.com/10-must-eat-foods-at-st-paul-s-two-massive-hmong-markets/481515751/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Star Tribune |archive-date=2023-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024002021/https://www.startribune.com/10-must-eat-foods-at-st-paul-s-two-massive-hmong-markets/481515751/ |url-status=live }} The sausage is widely available in Hmong communities at restaurants, butchers, and delis. One Hmong American grocery store processed and sold about 700 pounds of Hmong sausage daily.{{cite news |date=September 17, 2001 |title=Ethnic Consumers Propelling Category Growth |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA79291243&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-ITOF&asid=eca4e6de |work=Supermarket News |location=Saint Paul, Minnesota |publisher=Penton Media, Inc., Penton Business Media, Inc. and their subsidiaries |access-date=November 7, 2024 |via=Gale General OneFile|id={{Gale|A79291243}}}}
Culture
File:More Scenes of Ban Vinai 0024.jpg, Thailand, {{circa|1985}}.]]Many Hmong Americans express that making and eating traditional Hmong foods such as sausage connects them to their identity and family history. About Hmong sausage in relation to the difficult background of Hmong immigrants, Minnesota Hmong American chef Yia Vang said: "This sausage is redemption... I’m proud of it... I’m not ashamed anymore. This shit is legacy."
Hmong sausage is commonly processed and served during special occasions like Hmong New Year celebrations. Hmong American families tend to make the sausage in large batches with common American processing equipment such as sausage stuffing machines and synthetic sausage casing, although historically and in other Hmong diasporas across the world the sausage is produced by hand, frequently in small batches. Chef Yia Vang remembered his father teaching him to coarsely chop pork by hand and stuff it into intestine casing with a modified Coca-Cola bottle. Similarly, Wisconsin Hmong American chef Diane Moua recalled: "I remember vividly my grandma making Hmong sausage. I called my mom, because I wasn't sure, but I remember as a kid she chopped it up and put it in this casing..."{{cite web | last=Solina | first=Samie | title=We visited as many James Beard semifinalists as we could in a day | website=kare11.com | date=January 23, 2025 | url=https://www.kare11.com/article/news/community/visited-many-james-beard-semifinalists-could-day/89-acf34340-7a17-46ac-a1b9-d6392c7f4648 | access-date=February 13, 2025}}
Hmong Americans tend to make the sausage a foot or more long and very thick, then eat it fresh or freeze it to preserve it. Some families prefer shorter sausages. Others prefer to lightly ferment or smoke the sausage for flavor and preservation.
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| footer = Looped blood sausage made by Vietnamese Hmong in 2011.
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Hmong families pass down "secret" sausage recipes and don't disclose the exact ingredients or methods they use. In Cooking from the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America (2023), an authoritative Hmong American cookbook, the authors say: "Good cooks guard their sausage recipes, and everyone makes sausage a little differently." La Vang-Herr, proprietor of @La's, a Hmong food cart in Aloha, Oregon, declined to share their recipe and revealed only that the main ingredients of their sausage are "juicy ground pork and aromatics like ginger and lemongrass".
Commercial preparation
Hmong sausage has been commercially produced in the United States.{{cite web | last=Hertel | first=Nora G | title=Mekong Meat serves local, U.S. need | website= Wausau Daily Herald| date=November 25, 2015 | url=https://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/news/2015/11/25/mekong-meat-serves-local-us-need/76254608/ | access-date=January 23, 2025}}{{Cite web |title=Tsim Neej - Smoked Meat and Sausage |url=https://www.tsimneej.com/ |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=Tsim Neej Smoked Meat and Sausages |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023004241/https://www.tsimneej.com/ |url-status=live }} Union Hmong Kitchen debuted at the Minnesota State Fair in 2022 with dishes such as purple sticky rice and Hmong sausage made with crunchy Thai chili oil, and began serving the sausage at Target Field in 2023.{{Cite web |date=3 September 2022 |title=Why did Chef Yia Vang bring 16,000 pounds of purple sticky rice to the Minnesota State Fair? |url=https://hmongdailynews.com/why-did-chef-yia-vang-bring-pounds-of-purple-sticky-rice-to-the-minn-p408-95.htm |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Hmong Daily News |language=en |archive-date=2023-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024002022/https://hmongdailynews.com/why-did-chef-yia-vang-bring-pounds-of-purple-sticky-rice-to-the-minn-p408-95.htm |url-status=live }} Kramarczuk's, a James Beard Award-winning Ukrainian deli in Minneapolis, makes and sells Union Hmong Kitchen branded Hmong sausage.{{cite web |url=https://www.minnpost.com/glean/2023/02/scott-county-to-discuss-the-future-of-the-minnesota-renaissance-festival/ |title=Scott County to discuss the future of the Minnesota Renaissance Festival |last=Kaul |first=Greta |date=8 February 2023 |website=MinnPost |publisher= |access-date=23 January 2024 |quote= |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124001742/https://www.minnpost.com/glean/2023/02/scott-county-to-discuss-the-future-of-the-minnesota-renaissance-festival/ |url-status=live }} Discussing Yia Vang's restaurants, Minnesota Monthly listed Hmong sausage as one of Minnesota's most iconic foods.{{cite web |url=https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/food-drink/minnesotas-most-iconic-foods/ |title=Minnesota's Most Iconic Foods |last=Tormoen |first=Erik |date=June 15, 2023 |website=Minnesota Monthly |publisher=Greenspring Media, LLC |access-date=July 16, 2024 |quote=}}
In popular culture
- Food critic Andrew Zimmern featured the popular Hmong sausage with purple sticky rice meal at Hmongtown Marketplace on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations in 2016.{{Cite episode |title=Twin Cities |url=https://imdb.com/title/tt5480972/?ref_=ttep_ep7 |access-date=May 2, 2024 |series=Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations |series-link=Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations |network=Cooking Channel |date=February 16, 2016 |season=3 |series-no= |number=7}}
- In YA novel Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions, the main character insists he is "willing to die for this sausage now that he has not-so-subtly insinuated he thinks I can't handle it" when told it's "Hmong-level spicy."{{cite book |last=Dhillon |first=Navdeep Singh |author-link= |date=8 February 2022 |title=Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iVf2DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22hmong%22+%22sausage%22&pg=PA97 |location= |publisher=Dial Books |page=97 |isbn= 978-0593109977 }}
- Yia Vang mentioned Hmong sausage as part of his background in the opening of Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend episode six, "Battle Chili Peppers".{{Cite episode |title=Battle Chili Peppers |episode-link= |url= |access-date= |series=Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend |series-link=Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend |first= |last= |network=Netflix |station= |date= |season= |series-no= |number= |minutes= |time= |transcript= |transcript-url= |quote= |language=}}
See also
{{Commons category|Hmong sausage}}
- Hmong cuisine
- Sai oua – a similar sausage
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R6-y0gZPwc&t=53 Hmong sausage at the Minnesota State Fair]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cu2rHmHwJU Video of Hmong sausage grilling]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20240811154614/https://hmongfood.life/hmong-sausage/ Hmong sausage recipe with photos]
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{{Sausage}}