Nam sausage, also known as Vietnamese pork sausage or lạp xưởng, is a beloved delicacy in Vietnamese cuisine With its distinctive sour and umami flavor, nam sausage makes a tasty addition to various dishes. But is it safe to eat raw or undercooked? Let’s explore the world of nam sausage, including how it’s made, storage and handling best practices, nutritional content, and delicious ways to cook up this fermented favorite
What is Nam Sausage?
Nam sausage is a type of fermented, cured sausage originating from Vietnam. It’s made from coarsely ground pork that is seasoned with garlic, sugar, salt, black pepper, and other spices. The mixture is stuffed into casings and left to ferment at room temperature for several days, allowing lactic acid bacteria to proliferate. This gives nam sausage its characteristic sourness.
Once fully fermented nam sausage has a firm slightly dry texture and an intense sour flavor balanced by the sweetness of the added sugar. Each link is typically tied off with a small pickled chili pepper. Nam sausage is served in Vietnamese dishes like bún chả (grilled pork with rice noodles) or eaten on its own as a snack.
Is It Safe to Eat Nam Sausage Raw?
The short answer is yes – nam sausage is safe to eat raw right out of the package once it’s fully fermented
The fermentation process cooks the pork to a safe temperature and introduces lactic acid bacteria that suppress harmful pathogens. As long as the nam sausage is fresh and stored properly, the risk of foodborne illness is very low.
However, there are a few precautions to keep in mind:
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Consume raw nam sausage within 3-5 days of purchase for peak freshness. Discard if you see any mold.
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Avoid letting raw nam sausage contact surfaces used for raw pork or other meats to prevent cross-contamination.
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Refrigerate promptly and maintain temperatures below 40°F.
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Check for any off odors, sliminess, or spoilage before eating.
So while raw nam sausage is considered safe overall due to the fermentation process, always exercise care when handling any raw meat product. Those with compromised immune systems may still wish to cook nam sausage as an extra precaution before eating.
How is Nam Sausage Traditionally Made?
Authentic nam sausage is made through a careful process designed to promote fermentation while preventing spoilage. Here are the basic steps:
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Meat Selection: Pork shoulder or leg is chosen for the right fat-to-meat ratio.
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Grinding: The pork is coarsely ground or hand-chopped.
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Mixing: Garlic, sugar, salt, pepper and other spices are incorporated into the ground pork.
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Stuffing: The seasoned meat mixture is stuffed into hog casings and linked.
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Fermenting: The sausages ferment at room temperature for 3-7 days.
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Drying: Once the desired sourness develops, the sausages are taken down to dry and further cure.
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Packaging: Links are individually tied off with a pickled chili pepper.
The lactic acid produced by fermentation not only gives nam sausage its tangy flavor, but also suppresses pathogenic bacteria for safer consumption.
Proper Handling and Storage of Nam Sausage
To keep nam sausage fresh and minimize the risk of food poisoning, follow these safe handling practices:
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Store nam sausage sealed in the refrigerator at 40°F or below.
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Use within 3-5 days for highest quality, or freeze for longer storage up to 2-3 months.
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Keep raw nam sausage separate from other foods like produce to prevent cross-contamination.
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Wash hands, utensils, and surfaces after direct contact with raw nam sausage.
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Do not allow nam sausage to sit out at room temperature for more than 2 hours before refrigerating.
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Check for any off odors, stickiness, dark spots, or other signs of spoilage before consuming.
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Cook nam sausage thoroughly to an internal temperature of 160°F before eating if unsure of freshness.
Following basic food safety principles helps prevent the growth of dangerous bacteria and allows you to enjoy nam sausage worry-free!
Nutritional Profile of Nam Sausage
In addition to its bold, savory taste, nam sausage packs a nutritional punch. A 3.5 ounce serving of nam sausage contains:
- Calories: 185
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated fat: 5g
- Protein: 13g
- Sodium: 920mg
Nam sausage is an excellent source of protein to support muscle growth and maintenance. It also provides iron, zinc, B vitamins, and other micronutrients.
However, the sodium content is quite high, at nearly 40% of the daily recommended limit per serving. Consume nam sausage in moderation if you are monitoring your sodium intake.
Overall, nam sausage offers a tasty dose of protein and micronutrients along with that signature tangy flavor. It can be part of a healthy diet when enjoyed in appropriate portions.
Delicious Ways to Eat Nam Sausage
From noodle bowls to grilled skewers, nam sausage shines in these delicious preparations:
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Thinly slice and pan-fry until crispy for a satisfying snack.
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Grill or broil whole links alongside lemongrass and shrimp on skewers.
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Chop and add to fried rice dishes for a savory umami burst.
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Slice and add at the end of cooking phở, bún bò, or bánh mì for extra flavor.
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Fry with kimchi, tofu, and onions for a quick veggie-packed lunch.
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Use in place of pepperoni on homemade Vietnamese-style pizza.
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Mix into salads with crunchy vegetables and a tangy lime dressing.
The uses for nam sausage’s wonderful umami depth are nearly endless! Experiment with nam sausage in your favorite Vietnamese restaurant-style recipes or everyday dishes to liven up mealtime.
Enjoying Nam Sausage Safely
Fermented meat snack is helping researchers develop a safe, all-natural food preservative
A traditional Vietnamese meat snack might hold the key to making a natural and safe food preservative that can help solve the problems of food waste and food-borne illnesses around the world.
The fermented pork snack, Nem Chua, is eaten raw but does not cause food poisoning when prepared correctly.
This happens because good bacteria that grow in the fermented meat make a chemical that kills bad bacteria.
Now, scientists at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, have shown that this naturally occurring chemical that kills bacteria could be used to keep food fresh longer.
Food waste is a worldwide problem that costs about US$68 billion a year in industrialized countries, uses up almost a quarter of the water used in farming, and causes 8% of the world’s greenhouse greenhouse gas emissions.
Food-borne illnesses like Listeria and Salmonella affect a lot of people every year. They can be deadly for pregnant women, older people, and people who don’t have strong immune systems.
Professor Oliver Jones, who is also the co-lead researcher, said that changes in consumer habits have made people want natural alternatives to artificial food preservatives even more.
“These bacteria-killing compounds have been known to scientists for a long time, but it’s been hard to make enough of them for the food industry,” Jones, Associate Dean of Biosciences and Food Technology at RMIT, said.
“The Nem Chua compound is colourless, odourless, tasteless and very resilient.
“This new research has helped us find the best conditions for growth so that we can make a lot of it, maybe even on an industrial scale.”
“With more work, we hope this could be a natural, safe, and effective way to deal with both food waste and food-borne illness.” “.
Bacteria-killing weapon
A group of researchers from RMIT were inspired to look into Nem Chua for its possible antibacterial properties after seeing people in Vietnam eating the raw meat snack without getting sick, even though it was very hot and humid there.
Professor Andrew Smith (now at Griffith University) and Dr. Bee May led the team that found a new type of compound that kills bacteria in Nem Chua.
Bacteriocins are a group of chemicals that bacteria make to kill other types of bacteria. Plantacyclin B21AG is one of them.
Bacteriocins form holes in the membranes of target bacteria. This causes the contents of the cell to leak out — effectively killing the bacteria.
There is a problem with bacteriocins: they are not very stable in different environments and only kill a few types of bacteria.
Nisin, which came out in the 1960s, is the only one that is currently licensed for use as a food preservative. This is in a market that is expected to be worth more than $513 million in 2020, but it can’t be used in all situations because it changes with temperature and pH.
Tough and effective
The compound from Nem Chua is stronger than Nisin and kills a lot of different kinds of bacteria, even after being exposed to the rough conditions that are common in food processing.
It can stand up to being heated to 90C for 20 minutes and stays stable at both high and low pH levels.
The compound can also kill a number of disease-causing organisms that are common in food, including Listeria, which can live through freezing and even refrigeration.
The new study was led by Dr. Elvina Parlindungan, who did it as part of her PhD work at RMIT. She is now a postdoctoral fellow at APC Microbiome, which is part of University College Cork in Ireland.
“By using bacteriocins as effective food preservatives, we are using bacteria’s own poisonous weapons against them—using nature’s smart solutions to solve our big problems,” Parlindungan said.
“In the future, these compounds might also be useful as an antibiotic in human medicine.”
Researchers at RMIT’s School of Science have started to play around with ways to make the compound even cleaner, and they plan to use it in test foods.
The team is keen to collaborate with potential industry partners to further develop the technology.
The Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP), which is part of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, gave Parlindungan a PhD scholarship to help with this work.
Story Source:
Materials provided by RMIT University. Original written by Gosia Kaszubska. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Elvina Parlindungan, Chaitali Dekiwadia, Oliver A. H. Jones. Things that affect Lactiplantibacillus plantarum B21’s growth and production of bacteriocin Process Biochemistry, 2021; 107: 18 DOI: 10. 1016/j. procbio. 2021. 05. 009 .
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