Why does a sausage taste sour?
Because it is made by fermenting pork and rice. It is a sausage enjoyed for the tang from fermentation, and how sour it actually is depends on the product and the cooking.
Sai Krok Isan
Sai Krok Isan · ไส้กรอกอีสาน
If you want to taste the tangy fermented foods of Isan, try sai krok Isan. It is a sausage made by fermenting pork with rice, garlic and more. The savory taste of meat is joined by the sourness that comes from fermentation. If you have tried sai ua, the Northern sausage, compare the two.
Sai krok Isan yai · Takeaway · CC BY-SA 3.0
Resized for display · Photo provided under CC BY-SA 3.0
What does it taste like?
Its traits are the savory pork and the tang that comes from fermentation. The strength of the sourness depends on the degree of fermentation and the cooking. The raw chilies served with it can be hot, so eat them separately, a little at a time.
Eat the raw chilies served with it separately, a little at a time.
Dish basics
- Dish name
- Sai Krok Isan · Sai Krok Isan
- Thai name
- ไส้กรอกอีสาน
- Type
- Sides & grilled
- Region
- Northeastern Thailand (Isan) · A fermented sausage of Isan
- Key ingredients
- Pork mixed with rice, garlic and more, then fermented. The sourness can change with the fermentation and the way it is cooked.
The dish and where it comes from
Sai krok Isan is an Isan dish made by fermenting pork and rice. It is not a dish eaten only in Khon Kaen. Comparing it with sai ua, the Northern sausage that celebrates herbal aroma, shows how the ingredients and flavor of sausages differ by region.
How to order and eat it
- Order carefully, telling apart sai ua, which has herbs, from sai krok Isan, the fermented sausage.
- Try the cooked sausage a little at a time. Tasting first shows you how tangy the fermentation is.
- If raw chilies come with it, add them separately a little at a time instead of eating them all at once.
Frequently asked questions
How is it different from sai ua?
Sai ua is a grilled Northern sausage with herbs, while sai krok Isan is an Isan sausage of fermented pork and rice. If you try both, you can compare the herbal aroma and the sourness of fermentation.
More dishes and cities to explore
Official sources and references
If you want to read more about the food and the regions behind it, these sources are a good place to start. Ingredients and recipes can vary from one restaurant to the next.
View official sources · 1
Sharing image credit: Takeaway · CC BY-SA 3.0