Wild Boar Mexican Chorizo
This is a coarse, country-style Mexican chorizo. It will have more heft than a store-bought chorizo, and will stay together better; real Mexican chorizo is kinda runny, which I don’t like so much. It’s a tropical, spicy link that isn’t too hot, but the mix of medium-heat chiles gives it depth.
Makes about 5 pounds, or 20 sausages
3 1/2 pounds wild boar or pork
1 1/2 pounds pork fat
20 grams garlic powder
40 grams kosher salt
6 grams Mexican oregano
10 grams ground cumin
10 grams chipotle powder
12 grams ancho powder
10 grams mulatto chile powder
2 ounces achiote paste
1/2 cup tequila
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
hog casings
- Chill the meat until it is almost frozen by putting it in the freezer for an hour or so.
- Take out some hog casings and set in a bowl of very warm water.
- Chop meat and fat into 1 inch chunks.
- Combine all the dry spices (except for the achiote paste) with the meat, mix well with your hands and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour.
- Mix the tequila with the achiote paste, then add to the vinegar. Chill in the fridge.
- Grind through your meat grinder (you can use a food processor in a pinch, but you will not get a fine texture), using the coarse die. If your room is warmer than 69 degrees, set the bowl for the ground meat into another bowl of ice to keep it cold.
- Add the tequila-achiote mixture and mix thoroughly either using a Kitchenaid on low for 60-90 seconds or with your (very clean) hands. This is important to get the sausage to bind properly. Once it is mixed well, put it back in the fridge.
- Stuff the sausage into the casings all at once. Twist off links by pinching the sausage down and twisting it around several times; do every other link and you will only have to twist in one direction. Or you could tie them off with butcher’s string.
- Hang the sausages in a cool place for up to 4 hours (the colder it is, the longer you can hang them). If it is warm out, hang for one hour. Once they have dried a bit, put in the fridge until needed. They will keep for at least a week in the fridge.
- If you are freezing the sausages, wait a day before doing so. This will tighten up the sausages and help them keep their shape in the deep-freeze.
