4505 Meats Sausage Recipe

Ryan Farr thinks everyone should make–and eat–more sausage.

We're with him, especially when he's making Lao-style pork sausages (see the recipe) and we're eating them.

The butcher-slash-chef at San Francisco's 4505 Meats recently stopped by our Test Kitchen to discuss his favorite porky parts and pieces, as well as his new book, Sausage Making: The Definitive Guide with Recipes ($35), due out in April and co-written by Tasting Table senior editor Jessica Battilana.

Farr begins by breaking down a whole pork shoulder, but you don't need butchery skills to make sausage.

He's a firm believer that with the help of some basic tools (like a meat grinder attachment for your stand mixer) and a few simple techniques, home cooks can easily make their own links.

"Once you know what texture you want and you have the four basic elements–meat, fat, salt and liquid–you're good to go," Farr says. "Oh, and don't cut into the sausage while it's cooking."

Farr's Lao-style pork sausage is flavored with kaffir lime, galangal, garlic and fish sauce. It's one of his favorite recipes from the book. After a taste, it's easy to see why. At his shop, Farr serves the spicy sausage on a bun with watermelon, mint, basil and a bit of 4505's "magic mayo," but we liked it just fine on its own, butter-basted and sliced.

We blinked and the links were gone.