How to Make Delicious, Chewy, Crispy Beef Sausage at Home, Super Simple

How to prepare Beef Cake

• 1

  Prepare beef and pork fat

  Clean the beef, put it in the freezer for about 1 – 2 hours. Select about 50g of fat, and cut the rest into small pieces. Place in a freezer for about 1 – 2 hours to freeze again.

  Boil about 150ml of water in a pot on the stove, add the remaining 50g of fat to the pot, briefly boil, add 1 tablespoon of sugar, and boil for about 3 minutes. Remove, let it cool a bit, and then chop finely.

  Add 1 tablespoon of sugar, mix well. Let it dry in the wind or in the sun for about 1 hour to tighten, making the cake crispier.

  The beef that has frozen, take it out and chop it finely.

  Tip:

  Pork fat will help the beef cake not to be dry. If there is no freezer, you can place it in the freezer refrigerator, however, the freezing time will be longer, about 3 – 4 hours.

  The smaller you chop the meat, the more evenly and quickly the grinder will work, and it won’t be overloaded. Beef contains tendons, if cut large, it will be very difficult to grind when put into the machine.

  

  

  
• 2

  Grinding beef

  Put all the chopped beef into the grinder and grind until smooth. After grinding, place it in the freezer.

  Next, put the frozen raw pork fat into the grinder and grind until smooth.

  Take the ground beef out of the freezer, add it to the grinder with the ground pork fat, and quickly grind to mix the mixture evenly. Season with 30ml of fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/3 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate. Grind once more to mix well.

  Use 2 ice cubes and crush them with a pestle. Add to the grinder and grind together for about 10 seconds. Open the lid and use chopsticks to gently stir to fluff the meat, making it easier for the grinder. Grind about 3 times like this for a smooth and elastic texture. Add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of baking powder to the grinder.

  Tip:

  • During grinding, check the temperature of the meat. If the meat is no longer cold, add a few ice cubes to grind together, or place the meat in the freezer for 30 minutes before continuing to grind.
  • If the food processor has a small capacity, divide the beef into several grinding sessions.
  • Do not add too much baking powder, or the sausage will puff up and lose its meaty flavor. Do not grind too long to avoid warming the meat; otherwise, it will not form sausage. You must work while the meat is cold for the beef sausage to be chewy and successful.

  

  

  
• 3

  Marinating beef sausage

  Wash and chop the dill. Put ice water into a large bowl to chill it, then remove the ice. Add the ground beef sausage into the bowl. Add the chopped dill and the dried pork fat into the meat bowl, and mix well to combine the mixture.

  

  
• 4

  Wrap the beef paste

  Wash the banana leaves and blanch them to soften so that they do not break when wrapping, making it easier to wrap. You can also lightly heat the banana leaves over fire to soften them for easier wrapping.

  Arrange 2 – 3 layers of banana leaves overlapping each other, with a layer of plastic (suitable for high temperatures) underneath.

  Spread a layer of cooking oil on the banana leaves, then scoop the meat into the center of the leaves and roll it tightly, folding both ends of the paste to ensure the banana leaves completely wrap the paste, tie it tightly with string, but do not pull too hard.

  Tip: To prevent air bubbles inside the beef paste, you should scoop the paste and gently tap it down in the bowl to break the air bubbles inside before scooping the meat for wrapping.

  
• 5

  Steam the beef paste

  Place a pot of boiling water to steam the paste, wait until the water is gently boiling, then add the paste to steam, cover the lid, and cook for about 5 minutes on high heat. Then, when the paste expands, reduce the heat to medium and steam for an additional 15 minutes.

  Flip the paste to cook evenly, and steam for another 10 – 15 minutes on medium heat.

  Turn off the heat, and continue to let the cooked paste rest in the pot for another 10 minutes. When the beef paste cools naturally, the released water will be absorbed back into the beef paste, preserving the freshness of the meat and the sweetness of the beef paste. When cooled, cut the paste into bite-sized pieces.

  

  

  
• 6

  Final Product

  Delicious beef sausage, chewy, rich with the natural sweetness of beef, and a slight fattiness from pig fat is really enjoyable, isn’t it! Prepare a little salt and pepper to enhance the flavor of the dish!