How to Cook Boudins
Yields: 50 balls
Preparation time: 15 mins + 1 hour (inactive)
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 mins
Ingredients needed to make Boudins:
- ½ lb pork liver, chopped into 1’’ chunks
- 2 lb boneless pork shoulder, chopped into 1’’ chunks
- 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 medium poblano chile, stem chopped off, deseeded and chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 medium jalapenos, stemmed, deseeded and chopped
- 3 cups panko
- 7 cups cooked white rice
- 1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 cup scallions, chopped
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp freshly ground white pepper
- 2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tbsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp curing salt
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Cooking instructions for Boudins:
- Place the liver and pork in a bowl and toss the vegetables into it.
- Sprinkle a dash of seasonings over them and toss thoroughly to coat well.
- Leave in the fridge, covered, for an hour to marinate and tip the mixture into a large pot.
- Pour in water until they stand a couple of inches above the meat and cook until it starts boiling.
- Reduce it to a simmer and continue to do so for an hour or until the meat soften.
- Turn off the heat and tip the mixture onto a fine mesh sieve to strain; set the cooking liquid aside.
- Set the strained solids aside until cool enough to handle and grind the meat into a grainy mix, using a meat grinder.
- Transfer it into a large mixing bowl and add the cook rice, scallions as well as parsley into it.
- Pour in 3 ½ cups of the reserved liquid and stir them all together for about 5 minutes or until they clump together.
- Spread the panko onto a shallow plate and set aside.
- Shape small portions of the meat mixture into golf-sized balls and roll them, few at a time, onto the panko to coat evenly.
- Arrange them on a baking sheet and set aside until all the boudin balls are dredged.
- Place a wire rack midway within the oven and warm it up to 200 degrees F.
- Spread few layers of kitchen papers onto another baking sheet and set aside.
- Pour oil in a large, deep-bottomed skillet so that it stands 2’’ inches from the base and heat it to 375 degrees F.
- Working in batches, lower the boudin balls into the hot oil and deep fry for a minute or until they turn golden brown in colour.
- Drain them out with the help of slotted spoon onto the piled-up paper towels and set aside until all the balls are deep-fried.
- Serve hot.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
