It may be spelled Boudin or Boudain but, it is always pronounced Boodan as its origins are French.
Boudain is a pork and rice Cajun sausage. They say you can find it in South East Texas, where Louisiana and Texas’s cultures collide.
It’s a Snack
If you don’t know this type of food, it can be a meal, but it is preferred as a snack – almost like those continuous snacks.
It’s found at gas stations and meat markets, grocery stores, and seafood shops. It’s rarely seen in an actual restaurant because boudin is regarded as ‘on the go’ food.
Eat it on the Go
May you should stop at the gas station to fill up and then into the shop to buy a link of boudin. Take the flat side of your knife to help you squeeze the sausage contents out through the end of the casing and eat it, and keep on pushing the contents at the end of that casing and washing it down with cold ones until nothing’s left but the casing – which you throw away.
Again, I’m told that it’s what fuels the trip east from Houston to Louisiana. Almost every gas station will stock them – poached or smoked – but either way, a delicious snack for a long drive.
It’s a Cajun Sausage?
If you’re not familiar with boudin, I can tell you it’s a sausage stuffed with pork, liver, rice, and many aromatics and spices. You can add bell peppers to this, celery, green onions, parsley, ad cayenne pepper for the best basic recipe. Some people add jalapenos, and others will throw in shrimp and crawfish too.
Filling the Casing or Boudin Balls
Maybe you find the process of stuffing the filling into the casing. So, remember, you could make boudin balls instead –making balls, rolling them in crushed crackers ad deep-frying them for snacks or just plain pleasurable eating.
Now You Know What Boudin Is; Let Me Tell You How to Cook It Here’s a recipe you might like to try:
Boudin – A pork and rice sausage – approx. 20 serves
- 2 lbs pork shoulder, cut into 1-inchpieces
- 1 celery ribs diced
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- ½ lb chicken livers
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 green onions, chopped (green part only)
- ½ cup parsley, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
For the Stuffed Sausage:
4 feet of hog casing, size 32/35 m
1 x tablespoon vegetable oil
1 x sausage stuff
Put pork shoulder, celery, onion, garlic, bell pepper, plus salt into a large cooking pot. Cover content with 2 inches water, bring to boil, and turn down the heat and simmer without cover for 1 hour
After 1 hour, add chicken liver to the pot and continue cooking for extra 45 mins until the pork is tender.
Strain meat and veg in the pot and reserve liquid. Finely dice the meat and veg with a knife, then set in a food processor or meat grinder set for a coarse grind. Once chopped, put meat and veg in a large bowl.
Add to the bowl the cooked rice, jalapenos, thyme, paprika, green onion, parsley, black pepper, and cayenne. Stir in 1 x cup of the reserved cooking liquid and combine until the filling is moist and slightly sticky. If it’s too dry, add more liquid. Taste and adjust seasonings if and as preferred by you.
First, to stuff into casings for sausage, rinse the outside of the casing and then place in water for 30 mins to soften. Drain the soaking water and rinse the inside of the casing by placing one end on the end of a kitchen tap, turn the water on low and let it flow through the casing. The casing should blow up a bit like a balloon, but this is ok.
Lightly oil the stuffing horn on your sausage stuffer. Knot one end of the casing. Take the other end and gently slide the entire casing onto the horn. Leave the knot plus an additional four ins hanging off the end of the funnel.
Put the filling into the feeder and push it through until it starts to fill the casing. Take it slow at first and realize that you need to massage the casing onto the horn, leaving the knot plus an extra four ins hanging off the end of the funnel.
Once the casing is full, to form the links, you should pinch it every five ins and then twist it until it’s secure. Then you can cut the casing to form individual sausages.
When you want to cook the boudin, poke small holes into the casing, poach in boiling plain water for 10 mins and then it’s ready to be eaten. Further, you can also grill it, or smoke it – you’ve seen prominently named chefs do this on TV and YouTube.
Boudin Balls
Lastly, you can either serve the filling as a dressing, or you can roll it into walnut-sized balls, dip it into finely crushed crackers, and deep fry in 450 degrees hot oil for 2 mins or until brown little boudin balls – as mentioned earlier in this article.
How to Cook without Exploding
Take some foil and line a pan with it. Next, spray one side of the boudin sausage, then spray the other side and place it in the pan on the foil. Take about 30 mins and cook it gently, watching and turn and cook for another 20 mins. If you do it right, it will not explode.
Please, please, don’t put the boudin over the fire because it surely will explode! – It’ll blow up!
For Breakfast
You can eat it for breakfast in a few different ways. The two methods that caught our eye was in an omelet and a sandwich:
Breakfast Omelette
So, you make a French omelet and slice the boudin thinly to make the filling – keeping it warm in another smaller pan. When the omelet is ready but still a bit runny and sticky inside, then line the boudin down one half of the omelet to the centerline, and fold the other half over and serve.
Breakfast Sandwich
This really amounts to a fried egg between breakfast biscuits, which you’ll brown on both sides in the frying pan, while you’ll lightly grill the boudin, then slice it and put it in the frying pan with the rest of the food and serve.
Boudin Blanc
There is a Boudin Blanc (white) version, which is made with leeks and chicken and veal other the recipe and preparation and cooking is much the same.
The Casing
The casing is relatively thick and far too chewy to eat. So, no, you can’t eat the casing. The idea is that the casing holds it all together, then you eat everything from the casing you will then throw away.
What Foods Go Well with Boudin When Making a Meal?
I have it on good authority that a salad always goes well; so, do veggies of most kinds, baked beans, scrambled eggs, and, can you believe, baked mac and cheese!
It sounds exciting, and maybe some of you will want to roll up your sleeves and get started on this most different recipe. It’s nourishing and contains some healthy nutrients for those willing to try it,
