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1
Mix the spiced beef
15 Mins
No heat — cold, straight from the fridge
Put the cold ground beef in a large chilled bowl. Add the minced garlic, salt, sweet and hot paprika, cumin, fenugreek, black pepper, cayenne and red wine vinegar. Knead with your hands for 5 to 6 minutes, folding and pressing, until the mixture turns sticky and holds together in one mass instead of falling apart — that stickiness is the protein binding, and it is what keeps the sausage juicy.
Fry a teaspoon of the mixture in a small pan and taste it now. It is the only chance to fix the salt and heat before the sausage is stuffed.
Done when: Mixture sticky and tacky, pulling away from the bowl in one piece.
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2
Stuff the casings — or roll casing-free links
20 Mins
No heat — cold
If using casings, slide one onto the stuffer nozzle, tie the end, and fill firmly without air pockets, twisting into 4 links about 15 cm long. If going casing-free, divide the meat into 4 equal portions, roll each into a firm log about 4 cm thick on a sheet of cling film, wrap tightly and twist the ends like a sweet wrapper.
Prick any air bubbles in the casings with a fine needle — trapped air makes the sausage burst when it hits the heat.
Done when: Links firm, evenly filled, no air pockets.
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3
Rest the sujuk overnight
12 Hours (Passive)
Fridge, 4°C (40°F) or below
Lay the links on a rack over a tray, uncovered if they are in casings, or wrapped if they are cling-film rolls. Leave in the fridge overnight, or at least 8 hours. The salt firms the texture and the garlic, cumin and fenugreek soak through the meat — sujuk mixed and cooked the same day tastes flat by comparison.
Do not skip the rest. This is the step that turns seasoned mince into sujuk.
Done when: Links firm to the touch, surface slightly dry, smelling strongly of garlic and spice.
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4
Slice and grill the sujuk
12 Mins
Medium-high heat, about 200°C (400°F); ground meat must reach 71°C (160°F)
Cut the links into slices about 1 cm thick. Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan over medium-high heat. Fry the slices in a single layer for 2 to 3 minutes per side until deep reddish-brown with crisp, curled edges and no pink left in the centre — check that the middle reaches at least 71°C (160°F). The fat will render out and the slices will shrink slightly.
Do not crowd the pan or the slices steam instead of crisping. Work in two batches and keep the first warm under foil.
Done when: Deep reddish-brown, edges crisp and curled, hot through with no pink in the centre.
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5
Serve the sujuk
5 Mins
Hot, straight from the pan
Pile the hot slices onto a plate or tuck them into warm pita with pickled cucumber, sliced tomato and fresh mint. In Lebanon the classic breakfast adds a fried egg on the side, the yolk running over the spicy sausage.
Serve at once — sujuk firms up and loses its crisp edges as it cools.
Done when: Served steaming hot, slices still crisp at the edges.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Serve the sujuk the moment it leaves the pan, with warm bread to catch the spiced fat — that first hot, crisp-edged bite is the whole point of making it yourself.
Lebanon
25m
