You wait ages for one, then two Chinese recipes come along. It’s almost as if I’d forgotten how to blog. In a way this is true. I’m pretty disgusted with the state of the blagging scene in Birmingham at the moment and the thought of being associated with it has made me, well, get my head down and actually do more good things with food this year. So more teaching, more popups, more food development work, more styling and photography. Less of the constant churning of idiot prose for idiot posers.

But then I’ve neglected for those of you who care about cooking good food, in particular Chinese food. So this for you then; a recipe for Chinese sausage. Of all my sausage recipes I’m most proud of this one. It’s the one most tinkered with, the most obscure (my middle name) and the most evocative for me.

These are Cantonese style, fatty and sweet with sugar and rice wine. I was generally fed up with quality of Chinese sausage you can get in the UK. Way too many preservatives, so much it rasps the back of the palate. The good ones in Hong Kong you are banned from bringing back in your luggage. The penalties are hefty and all Chinesers have heard of someone who got caught. So making my own was the only course available. It’s safe to say there are two kinds of cooks, ones who make sausages and ones who don’t. If you are serious about Chinese food, this recipe may change your cohort. Then a whole new world of sausage making awaits:

Lap Cheong 臘腸

Makes about 2kg raw sausage

1418g coarse ground fatty pork, shoulder or belly
331g pork back fat, 5mm diced by hand
28g salt
55g sugar
95g Chinese rice wine, best quality you can
55g light soy sauce
5g curing salt #1
5g Chinese five spice
8g MSG

 

• It’s pretty important to get the pork coarsely ground. Use the best pork you can get your hands on. Good sausages start with good meat and fat. Traditionally the pork will be hand cut but nowadays I use an 8mm grinding plate on my mincer. It’s more important that the back fat is hand cut.
• Mix everything together well. Cover with cling film and let it rest overnight in the fridge. Soak approx 6m of lamb casings in cold water ready for stuffing next day.
• Stuff into lamb casings and tie off in pairs so they can dry evenly. Prick all over with a clean needle and hang in a well ventilated cool dark room for 5 to 7 days.
• Once dried sufficiently, vac-pack to preserve and keep them in the fridge. They will actually get better after a couple of weeks.

Check out the internets for recipes using lap cheong. Me, personally, I like making claypot rice with it.