December 5, 2014

Steamed Lap Cheong Rice 蒸臘腸飯


A classic (and easy!) way to wrangle two delicious things to eat out of one pot!  If you've never tried Chinese Lap Cheong, or Chinese sausage, you are in for a treat.  These lovely dried sausages hung from hooks in pairs tied to colorful strings are so distinct in look, texture, taste and smell, just thinking of them reminds me of all the chinese groceries I have ever visited.  A happy memory indeed!  

So this is one for all the sausage lovers as well as all the rice lovers in this world, not only will you end up with a delectable dish of steamed Lap Cheong but also a heavenly pot of rice aromatically infused with all the sausage's flavors!  Steamed Lap Cheong Rice, or 蒸臘腸飯, is the perfect cold weather comfort two-in-one dish!

Steamed, Lap Cheong, Rice, recipe, chinese, sausage, yun cheong,   蒸, 臘腸, 飯

Lap Cheong, or 臘腸,  is a red colored pork sausage that is made with pork and pork fat that has been marinated in sugar, rice wine, soy sauce and spices and then smoked until dried and hard.  There is another kind of chinese sausage that you will see sold side by side with the Lap Cheong, a dark brown sausage that is known as Yun Cheong, or 膶腸.  Yun Cheong is made in a similar fashion to Lap Cheong but this sausage uses duck liver as the main ingredient.  

I love them both but my favorite is Yun Cheong, probably because I love the taste of liver.  What is your favorite?

Steamed, Lap Cheong, Rice, recipe, chinese, sausage, yun cheong,   蒸, 臘腸, 飯

Find yourself a good source of chinese sausages, as not all sausages are created equal.  You'll want to find sausages that look plump and not shriveled up.  It should smell fresh and not of stale oil.  We go for the traditional mix of half fat to half meat which we think tastes the best.  (There is nothing so lusciously good as pork fat!)  

There are also Lap Cheongs produced not that have a much lower ratio of fat if you prefer.  We've tried these low fat sausages and, while still tasty, we found they tasted too meaty and not quite 'sausage-y' enough, if you know what I mean.

Steamed, Lap Cheong, Rice, recipe, chinese, sausage, yun cheong,   蒸, 臘腸, 飯

This simple Steamed Lap Cheong recipe is actually based on the friendly advice of our favorite wet market seller of preserved meats.  This old couple do it the traditional way, hands on, small quantities but always the best stuff!  This stall is also where we also get the main ingredients for our Steamed Chinese Preserved Duck Leg 蒸臘鴨腿 and Steamed Sun Dried Dace  蒸臘鯪魚.  

But, a word of warning, don't expect friendly food advice right away.  Actually expect that they'll be grouchy and grumpy.  Fair enough at first, I think.  But be persistent and build up a relationship with the folk that sell at wet markets or farmer's markets and you will definitely reap the benefits.  

These people love and live food, and if they're willing to talk about it, trust me, there is much to learn!

Steamed, Lap Cheong, Rice, recipe, chinese, sausage, yun cheong,   蒸, 臘腸, 飯
Steamed Lap Cheong Rice Recipe  蒸臘腸飯
(Prep time: 2 mins  Cook time: 20 mins)

Ingredients:


Directions:

Decide how much rice you would like to cook.  We use 1 1/2 'rice cooker measuring cup' for enough rice for two and a half persons.  Use the measuring cup that comes with your rice cooker, not your usual measuring cup as they are not the same.  The 'rice cooker measuring cup' corresponds with the measurement markings for water level on the inside of your rice cooker pot.  Using the rice cooker measurements will allow you to make perfect rice every time with minimal effort.

Note: You can also use regular measuring cup, just remember that rice measuring cup is equal to 3/4 of regular measuring cup.  The rice and water measurement should always be 1:1.

After measuring out the rice, rinse the rice with water until the water runs pretty clear.  This rinses the starch out, allowing the final rice to be fluffy with each grain of rice separate.

With the washed rice in the rice cooker pot add water using the measurement markings on the inside of pot.  If you have 1 1/2 cup rice then add water to the 1 1/2 mark, etc.  Very easy!

Cut Lap Cheong from the strings and rinse off briefly.  Add into the rice cooker pot.  Put pot into the rice cooker and cover.  Press the rice cooker cook button.  When rice cooker button pops, the rice is done.  Remove Lap Cheong and slice at a diagonal into 1/4" thick slices and arrange nicely on plate.  Serve hot with your bowls of fragrantly flavored rice!

Pssst...Try making rice on your stove!  It's easy and our favourite way to make rice.

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4 comments:

  1. love your blog a lot! can you teach how to cook yellow eel and frogs ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Humm...there might be a problem there. I'm terrified of frogs (have been since a childhood incident!) and never eat them. But my 老公 doesn't mind them so I shall have to discuss with him ~ellen

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  2. hello, your lap cheong looks really good. May I know where to get the lap cheong (probably the shop name or address?). thanks a lot

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello back - I got these lap cheong at a shop in the kennedy town wet market. I don't know the name but it's on the first floor in the middle aisle and it's run by an elderly couple. This shop only sells dried meats and seafoods and always provides excellent stuff! ~ellen

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