Egyptian Spiced Sausage (Soga')
Sausage dries out when the fat content drops below 25%. That fat renders as it cooks and holds the juices. The casing must be filled tightly with no air pockets, because trapped air bursts it over the heat.
- Prep
- 180 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 200 min
- Calories
- 310
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Rainer Zenz assumed (based on copyright claims). — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Homemade sausage is cheaper and cleaner than shop-bought, and you control both the spicing and the fat. It is not difficult — but two details have to be right.
Method
-
1
Chill meat and fat
Put the meat and fat in the freezer for 30 minutes before mincing. Cold fat minces cleanly; warm fat smears and clogs the plate.
⏱ 32 min -
2
Mince coarsely
Mince the meat and fat together coarsely, once only. Repeated fine mincing warms the mixture and ruins the texture.
⏱ 12 min -
3
Squeeze the onion
Grate the onion and squeeze it in a cloth, using the juice only, not the pulp. The pulp releases water into the sausage and makes the casing burst.
⏱ 10 min -
4
Season
Mix the mince with the onion juice, crushed garlic, all the spices, salt and vinegar, and knead by hand for 5 minutes until it becomes cohesive and tacky.
⏱ 8 min -
5
Rest
Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Resting lets the spices penetrate and the salt loosen the proteins so the sausage binds.
⏱ 185 min -
6
Fill tightly
Soak the casings in water with vinegar for half an hour, then fill them with a funnel or mincer attachment tightly and without air bubbles. Air bursts the casing over heat.
⏱ 30 min -
7
Link and dry
Twist into 10 cm links and hang them somewhere airy for two hours, or uncovered in the fridge overnight, so the surface dries.
⏱ 15 min -
8
Cook
Fry in a pan with a little oil over medium heat for 15 minutes, turning, or cook them in tomato sauce. Never prick them with a fork — that lets the juices out.
⏱ 18 min
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Tips that actually matter
- At least 25% fat — less than that gives dry sausage.
- Onion juice, never the pulp; the pulp adds water and bursts the casing.
- Keep everything cold while mincing so the fat does not smear.
- Do not prick the sausage while cooking — the juices run straight out.
People also ask
Why does my sausage burst?
Air pockets in the filling, or too much water from onion pulp. Fill tightly with no air, use only the onion juice, and dry the surface for two hours before cooking.
Can I make it without casings?
Absolutely: shape the mixture into fingers by hand on parchment, roll them tightly in heat-safe film, or simply make it as kofta. The flavour is identical; only the shape changes.
How long does it keep?
Three days in the fridge and three months in the freezer. Freeze it spread on a tray for two hours first, then bag it — that way you can take out as many as you need rather than one block.
Cook mode
Egyptian Spiced Sausage (Soga')
-
1
Chill meat and fat
Put the meat and fat in the freezer for 30 minutes before mincing. Cold fat minces cleanly; warm fat smears and clogs the plate.
-
2
Mince coarsely
Mince the meat and fat together coarsely, once only. Repeated fine mincing warms the mixture and ruins the texture.
-
3
Squeeze the onion
Grate the onion and squeeze it in a cloth, using the juice only, not the pulp. The pulp releases water into the sausage and makes the casing burst.
-
4
Season
Mix the mince with the onion juice, crushed garlic, all the spices, salt and vinegar, and knead by hand for 5 minutes until it becomes cohesive and tacky.
-
5
Rest
Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Resting lets the spices penetrate and the salt loosen the proteins so the sausage binds.
-
6
Fill tightly
Soak the casings in water with vinegar for half an hour, then fill them with a funnel or mincer attachment tightly and without air bubbles. Air bursts the casing over heat.
-
7
Link and dry
Twist into 10 cm links and hang them somewhere airy for two hours, or uncovered in the fridge overnight, so the surface dries.
-
8
Cook
Fry in a pan with a little oil over medium heat for 15 minutes, turning, or cook them in tomato sauce. Never prick them with a fork — that lets the juices out.
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