Charcoal Grill · Lemongrass Sausage

Sai Oua (Northern Herb Sausage)

Photo: Takeaway / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

The name is bluntly literal, not poetic: 'sai' means intestine and 'oua' means stuffed — that's the whole etymology.

Coarsely chopped fatty pork is kneaded with a fistful of lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaf, shallots, garlic and fresh chilies, sometimes with a spoon of curry paste, then packed into casings and grilled over charcoal until the skin blisters. Market stalls coil it into a spiral on the grill so the fragrant smoke perfumes the whole street.

Why it's made this way: The sausage traces to Luang Prabang, the old royal capital of Laos, where the 20th-century royal chef Phia Sing recorded its recipe among dishes served for nobles and ceremonial banquets — a reputation that carried it firmly into northern Thailand.