Up your sausage game with this Thai-Vietnamese fusion

This year, I’ll be expanding the product section of our site; some hands on tips and tricks with products you can find in local stores, some made locally, some not. First up, a great way to use these new sausages that have recently rolled out at local Harmons stores.

Bovine & Swine are a great little company out of Jackson Hole, a chef-driven operation (not unlike that of locals Beltex Meats) that create some fun, high end links. The pick of the bunch from their recent new line of products are these Thai-inspired chicken sausage. Pre-cooked they explode aromatically when opened – a wallop of lemongrass, galangal and lime leaf.

My gut feeling was to slice them into a curry, but I feared their subtle flavors would be overwhelmed in the mix. I’m glad I resisted the urge and spent an extra millisecond in thought. Instead I went with this Thai-Vietnamese mash up. The sandwich pictured above consists of:

• Quick pickled radish and carrot, use a mix of rice wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, chili flakes, garlic and water
• Some off the shelf hoagie rolls, but you could take it to the next level with any of our excellent bakeries
• Gobs of mayo – get the Duke’s brand and thank me later, or make your own and feel all smug
• As much cilantro as you can fit on the thing

Oh and toast the bun too, because that always delivers the X factor on brats and burgers alike. The sausages themselves don’t bring too much heat to the table, so spice-scaredy cats can enjoy these too.

Speaking of capsaicin, lovers of the flame might want to add some sliced jalapeños at this point. As much as I love the Scovilles, I like the heat diffused rather than sprinkled on in one off lumps, so I generally prefer to reach for a hot sauce. This particular creation was finished as such with plenty of Habanero Banh Mi hot sauce from Fury. It’s an electric hot sauce made with both jalapeño and habanero with just enough daikon funk to work well here.

Bovine & Swine sausages are now available locally in Harmons stores. The Thai chicken sausages are part of a trio of new releases alongside bison huckleberry and beer brats. They join a solid roster of products such as andouille, all natural hot dogs and many more. Disclosure: we received a sample of the above product.

Kitchen essentials

Lastly, you might want to have a look at our concise list of essentials for any home chef. These are all products I personally use and recommend in a heartbeat. Don’t worry, the list is small, I hate clutter too.

Stuart Melling

Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you!  I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC.  I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City  dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.

I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV.   Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune.    I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand.   What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.

Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.