Honey-Orange-Mango Sausage

The Honey-Orange-Mango Sausage is almost like meat candy. The saltiness from the soy sauce infused with the blood orange zest is the perfect backdrop for when you get a burst of mango!

Ingredients:

• 5 lbs of Pork Shoulder
• 4.5 teaspoons of Coarse Kosher Salt
• 5 teaspoons of Chinese 5 Spice
• 2 teaspoons of Ground Black Pepper
• 5 teaspoons of Blood Orange Zest
• 1 TBSP of Chipotle Powder
• 4 TBSP Dark Soy Sauce
• 4 TBSP Honey
• 1 TBSP Garlic – finely chopped
• 1 TBSP Ginger – finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons of Rosemary – finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons of habanero – finely chopped

Step 1 – Chopping

Chop up your pork shoulder into pieces small enough to fit through your meat grinder. Discard pieces of bone, extra tough fat, and pieces of fat that that are extra stringy. Too much of this type of fat can clog the meat grinder.

Step 2 – Marinating

Mix salt, spices, rosemary, ginger, garlic, habanero, orange zest, and soy sauce into the chunks pork shoulder. Let it soak overnight.

Step 3 – Grinding

Run it through the meat grinder! Put the meat back in the freezer until almost frozen.

Step 4 – Mixing

Mix the sausage meat together and add the honey. Make sure to really pound and knead the meat thoroughly so that you can push the oxygen out of it, which will create a smoother texture. Put the meat into the freezer until almost frozen.

Step 5 – Stuffing

Add frozen chunks of mango. Immediately add the sausage to the stuffer and start stuffing! If the mango defrosts too much, it’s juices will mix into the sausage, reducing the burst effect!

Step 6 – Cooking

I usually recommend waiting at least 24 hours to let the flavors meld together. I have noticed with this recipe, that you should not wait too long or else the mango juices will seep into the meat, killing the nice contrast when you bite down into a chunk of mango.

Additionally, because of the high sugar content (honey) these guys will burn. I like the charring effect, but you will have to keep an eye on them when cooking. I recommend smoking or baking until they reach 160 degrees and then throwing them on a pan for a final sear.

Step 7 – Plating

This sausage goes great with some sushi rice and whole grain mustard and perhaps stir fried habanero and blood orange. Alternatively, for all you people who remember when I used to serve this at the food trailer, this sausage goes great on a toasted brioche bun topped with Curry BBQ Sauce.