Southeast Asia

Sai Oua: Lao Lemongrass Herb Sausage

Name: Sai Oua: Lao Lemongrass Herb Sausage
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Lao
Ingredients: 450 g Ground pork; 225 g Pork belly, in a piece; 90 ml Cooked sticky rice; 2 tbsp Galangal; 2 tbsp Lemongrass; 1 tbsp Makrut lime leaves; 6 tbsp Shallots; 4 tbsp Scallions; 4 tbsp Cilantro; 4 cloves Garlic; 2 Fresh green chilies (small); 1 tbsp Oyster sauce; 1/2 tbsp Fish sauce; 1/2 tbsp Padaek; 1 tsp Salt; 1/4 tsp Sugar; a pinch (1/8 tsp) Black pepper; 1 pack, salted and portioned Hog casing

Sai oua, the herb sausage born in Luang Prabang, Laos, made at home with ground pork, pork belly, lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime leaves and sticky rice. Covers what the name means and regional differences, handling casings, mixing the filling, the oven temperature for crisp skin, checking that the pork is cooked, and how to eat it with sticky rice.

Published: October 24, 2026Total: 2 hr 30 minLevel: Advanced

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 8

Soften the casing

Soaking hog casing in a bowl of lukewarm water to soften it — In lukewarm water for 90 minutes, until translucent and pliable

Lightly rinse the salted casing in lukewarm water to wash off the surface salt, then soak it in plenty of lukewarm water for 90 minutes. Soaking times differ by product, so check the package too. Softened casing is translucent and pliable and stretches a little when you pull it with your fingers.

STEP 22 / 8

Rinse and loosen the sticky rice

Rinsing cooked sticky rice in a sieve under running water to separate the grains — Rinse until the grains separate one by one, and drain well

Put 90 ml cooked sticky rice in a sieve and loosen it with your fingers under running water, until the grains separate one by one in about 1 minute. Drain well and spread on paper towels for 5 minutes. If any sticky film remains on the surface, it will clump in the filling.

STEP 33 / 8

Chop the herbs fine

Mincing lemongrass, galangal and makrut lime leaves to 1 to 2 mm — Cut the fibrous lemongrass and galangal down to 1 to 2 mm

Peel off 2 to 3 tough outer leaves of the lemongrass, slice the white base into thin rounds and then mince to 1 to 2 mm. Peel the galangal and mince to 1 to 2 mm as well. Remove the tough central vein from the makrut lime leaves, cut into very fine shreds and then chop. Avoid large pieces of galangal. The aroma is too strong when you bite into them, so take about 10 minutes here and chop carefully. Mince the shallots, garlic, chilies, scallions and cilantro too, and make everything uniformly fine.

STEP 44 / 8

Chop the pork belly and chill

Spreading 5 mm diced pork belly and ground pork on a tray and chilling in the freezer — Chill for 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to freeze

Chop the piece of pork belly into 5 mm dice, or pulse it in a food processor for about 10 seconds to a coarse chop. Combine it with the ground pork, spread on a tray and chill in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes. The guide is that the surface firms up a little and the edges are just beginning to freeze. When the fat is cold, it stays in pieces instead of melting as you mix, and the baked sausage is juicy.

STEP 55 / 8

Mix the filling to develop stickiness

Kneading pork, herbs and sticky rice by hand in a bowl to develop stickiness — Mix for 3 to 5 minutes, until everything holds together and gets sticky on your fingers

Put the chilled pork, sticky rice, minced herbs and aromatics, oyster sauce, fish sauce, padaek, salt, sugar and black pepper in a large bowl. Mix by hand for 3 to 5 minutes, pressing against the bottom of the bowl, until everything holds together and gets sticky on your fingers. Take 1 tsp for tasting and cook it in a skillet over medium heat for about 1 minute until cooked through and changed in color, to check the saltiness. Chill the filling in the freezer for 15 minutes until just before stuffing.

STEP 66 / 8

Stuff into the casing

Stuffing herb-filled pork into the casing with a sausage filler — Fill to an even thickness without air, enough that it dents slightly when pressed

Run water through the inside of the casing too, rinse, and gather it onto the tube of the filler (or the tip of the piping bag). Leave about 8 cm at the end and tie it. Push out the cold filling slowly over about 10 minutes, holding the casing with one hand and filling to an even thickness without trapping air. Overstuffing will tear the skin later, so leave enough slack that it dents slightly when pressed with a finger. Tie the other end too, and coil it in a spiral or twist it into lengths of about 15 cm.

STEP 77 / 8

Prick with a needle and dry the surface

Pricking sai oua with a thin needle and wiping with paper towels — Prick at 1 to 2 cm intervals and wipe the surface dry

With a thin needle, prick small holes all over at 1 to 2 cm intervals to let out trapped air. Wipe the surface thoroughly dry with paper towels. The drier the surface, the crisper the skin will pop when baked. If you have time, leaving it uncovered in the refrigerator for 30 minutes dries it further.

STEP 88 / 8

Bake and rest

Sai oua baked to a deep golden brown on a baking sheet — At 200°C for 20 to 25 minutes, until deep golden and 75°C or higher at the center

Preheat the oven to 200°C, line a baking sheet with parchment and arrange the sai oua on it. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once. Take it out when it is a deep golden brown all over, the skin is taut and the fat is seeping out. Insert a thermometer into the thickest part and make sure the center is 75°C or higher. Rest for 5 minutes after baking before cutting, to let the juices settle.

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Ingredients

1 / 3

Meat and binder

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Ground pork	450 g	Coarsely ground if available
Pork belly, in a piece	225 g	Chop into 5 mm dice or coarsely chop in a food processor
Cooked sticky rice	90 ml	Rinse in water to separate the grains and drain

2 / 3

Herbs and aromatics

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Galangal	2 tbsp	Minced. Frozen is fine
Lemongrass	2 tbsp	White bottom part, minced
Makrut lime leaves	1 tbsp	Minced with the veins removed (about 6 to 8 leaves)
Shallots	6 tbsp	Minced. Red onion can substitute
Scallions	4 tbsp	Thinly sliced
Cilantro	4 tbsp	Minced
Garlic	4 cloves	Minced
Fresh green chilies (small)	2	Minced. 1 if you dislike heat

3 / 3

Seasonings and casing

Seasoning	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Oyster sauce	1 tbsp	—
Fish sauce	1/2 tbsp	1 tbsp if not using padaek
Padaek	1/2 tbsp	Optional
Salt	1 tsp	—
Sugar	1/4 tsp	—
Black pepper	a pinch (1/8 tsp)	—
Hog casing	1 pack, salted and portioned	Not needed if making without casing

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Over a charcoal fire, a thick sausage coiled in a spiral sizzles. The skin tightens and splits in places, fat drips off, and the green aroma of lemongrass and makrut lime leaves rises with the smoke. At Lao markets, the vendor snips the grilled sausage into pieces and wraps it with sticky rice from a bamboo basket. This is the pork sausage kneaded with herbs, sai oua.

"Stuffed intestine," born in the royal city of Luang Prabang

Grilling a spiral of sai oua on a charcoal grill at a Lao street stall

In Lao script it is written ໄສ້ອັ່ວ. "Sai" means intestine and "oua" means stuffed, so the name is literally "stuffed intestine." It is said to have been born in Luang Prabang, the capital of the former Lan Xang kingdom and called the cradle of Lao culture and cooking. It has been made across a wide mountain region, from northern Laos across the Mekong into northern Thailand (the Lanna region) and Myanmar's Shan State. In Thailand it is called Chiang Mai sausage, in Shan State sailong pick, and the name and the blend change a little with each region.

The biggest difference from Japanese-style sausage is that the aroma of herbs comes before the meat. The filling is generously packed with lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime leaves, shallots, cilantro, chili and garlic, and sticky rice binds the meat. The traditional way is to chop the fattier parts of pork coarsely rather than grinding it fine. When grilled, the fat melts out and the coarse pieces of meat and the herb fibers fall apart in your mouth.

Did you know?

Sai oua is eaten in several ways: grilled, dried then grilled, or fermented. Lao street stalls line up many kinds of sausage, including ones made with beef or blood and ones fermented for sourness. A similar sausage from northeastern Thailand (Isan) is sai krok, but it is milder on herbs and known as a sour fermented sausage.

It used to be made at home, but now buying from a shop is common. For Lao people living in the United States, it is also a symbol of a dish that recalls home. The Lao American cook Saeng's Kitchen writes that this sausage often becomes an entry point to Lao cuisine. The classic accompaniments are sticky rice, the chili and tomato dip jeow mak len, raw cabbage, thin slices of garlic and ginger, fresh chilies and roasted peanuts.

What to know when making it in a home kitchen

Lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime leaves, fish sauce and pork casings available at stores

The keys to the aroma are fresh lemongrass, galangal and makrut lime leaves. Saeng's Kitchen stresses that using fresh lemongrass and galangal makes the taste completely different. All can be found fresh or frozen at Thai grocers and online, and what you can't use up can be chopped and frozen. Galangal, also called Thai ginger, is harder than ginger and has a sharp, pine-resin aroma. Substituting ginger brings the heat forward and gives a different taste.

For the casing, use hog casing (wider than sheep casing). Salted, portioned packs are sold at baking-supply shops and online. A sausage filler (a hand-cranked or pushing-type stuffer) makes the stuffing easy, but a piping bag with the tip removed can also push it out little by little. It can be made without casings, too. In the variations later I introduce a method of shaping it into a log with plastic wrap and cooking it.

Tip

Rinse the cooked sticky rice in water to separate the grains before mixing it in. Used straight from the cooker, its stickiness makes it clump into balls inside the filling. Using ordinary rice instead of sticky rice gives weaker binding, and the sausage tends to crumble when cooked.

Padaek (a Lao fermented fish condiment, used unstrained) is practically impossible to find in Japan. Leave it out and add fish sauce in its place, and it still turns out plenty delicious. Ordinary supermarket oyster sauce is fine.

Ingredients (serves 4, about 675 g)

The ingredients for sai oua: ground pork, pork belly, lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime leaves, shallots, cilantro and sticky rice

The amounts are Saeng's Kitchen's recipe, halved to be easier to make at home.

Caution

This dish contains soy and wheat (oyster sauce) and fish (fish sauce, padaek). Oyster sauce also contains oyster extract. Don't rub your eyes with hands that have chopped fresh chilies, and wash your hands well afterward.

How to make sai oua

Including time to soften the casing, about 2 hours of preparation and about 30 minutes of baking is the guide. While the casing soaks, chop the herbs and finish the filling and the work goes efficiently.

Caution

Pork cannot be eaten raw. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare urges cooking pork until the color of the center changes, and heating the center to 75°C for at least 1 minute. With a sausage made from ground meat, doneness is hard to tell by looks alone, so measure the center with a thermometer or check the cut surface to be sure no red remains.

Tip

Cut the baked sai oua into 1 cm slices and sear them again in a skillet for 1 to 2 minutes, and the cut surfaces turn crisp and the toasty flavor deepens. Saeng's Kitchen also recommends cutting and then searing to add texture.

Eaten with sticky rice and raw vegetables

Diagonally sliced sai oua with sticky rice in a bamboo basket, cabbage, ginger, chilies and peanuts on a Lao table — Slice on the diagonal and serve with sticky rice, raw vegetables and peanuts

In Laos, sai oua can be a main dish or a drinking snack. Cut it into diagonal slices about 1 cm thick, arrange on a plate and serve with steamed sticky rice. The Lao way is to pinch off a mouthful of sticky rice, roll it into a ball and eat it together with the sausage. In between, bite raw cabbage, then thin slices of garlic and ginger and fresh chilies bit by bit. The toasty flavor of roasted peanuts goes well with the aroma of the herbs. Biting into raw vegetables after the fat makes the next slice delicious again.

The dip jeow mak len is a Lao sauce made by crushing grilled tomatoes and chilies. For an easy version, store-bought sweet chili sauce, or fish sauce with lime juice and chopped chili, can also be enjoyed. To add one more Lao dish, laab, tossing herbs and ground meat, and mok pa, fish wrapped in banana leaf and steamed, go well with sticky rice.

Did you know?

In Laos sticky rice is called "khao niao" and brought to the table in a bamboo-woven basket. You roll it with your fingers and scoop up the food with it, so the strongly sticky rice also does the job of a spoon or chopsticks.

Variations

Sai oua shaped into a log with plastic wrap and cooked without casing, and a lettuce wrap dish

When you can't get casings, put the filling in a log about 3 cm in diameter on plastic wrap, wrap it, twist both ends and chill for 1 hour to firm. Unwrap, lightly oil a skillet and cook over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes, rolling until browned all over. You won't get a crisp skin, but you can enjoy the same aroma. You can also shape it into flat rounds about 5 cm in diameter and cook it like hamburger patties.

Baked sai oua is also easy to eat wrapped in a lettuce leaf with cilantro, mint and sticky rice. If you like heat, doubling the fresh chilies in the filling brings it close to the heat of northern Thailand's Chiang Mai sausage. The strength of the aroma is decided by the amount of galangal, so from the second time adjust it up or down to taste.

Frequently asked questions

Baked and unbaked sai oua stored separately in containers

What if I don't have galangal?

You can substitute ginger, but the aroma is a different thing. Ginger is hotter and lacks galangal's pine-resin scent. Frozen galangal and paste are easy to find online and keep well, so do get some if you can.

Can I store the raw sausage?

Bake the stuffed raw sai oua by the next day, refrigerated. If you won't bake it right away, wrap each one in plastic wrap and freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator before baking and cook thoroughly to the center.

How long does it keep after baking?

Cool baked sai oua, refrigerate it and eat it by the next day. To reheat, bake again in a skillet or toaster oven until hot throughout.

Can I cook it in a skillet?

Yes. Put the stuffed sai oua in a skillet with a little water, cover and steam-fry over medium-low heat for about 8 minutes, then remove the lid to cook off the water and brown it all over. Starting on high heat tends to split the skin before the inside is cooked.

Sources

Saeng's Kitchen, "Sai Oua | Lao Sausage." Accessed and checked October 22, 2026. https://www.saengskitchen.com/laorecipes/laosausage
Wikipedia, "Sai oua." Accessed and checked October 22, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_oua
StarChefs, Souli Phaduangdet, "Lao Sausage." Accessed and checked October 22, 2026. https://www.starchefs.com/recipes/lao-sausage-2
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan), "Please cook beef and pork liver and pork thoroughly through" (leaflet for display in restaurants; in Japanese). Accessed and checked October 22, 2026. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/file/06-Seisakujouhou-11120000-Iyakushokuhinkyoku/innsyokutenn.pdf