Lap Cheong – Smoked Chinese Pork Sausage
Lap Cheong is a traditional Chinese sweet and savory dried sausage that gets its characteristic flavor from rice wine, soy sauce, and sugar. The sausage is stuffed into pork casing, cured, and then cold or warm smoked until it develops a deep mahogany color and firm texture. It serves as an ingredient in numerous Asian dishes or is eaten plain as a snack.
Ingredients(for 1 kg)
Instructions
Curing the meat
24 hrs.Cut pork (70% shoulder, 30% back fat) into 1-2 cm cubes. Thoroughly mix with curing salt, sugar, Shaoxing rice wine, dark soy sauce, Meigui Lu, and five spice powder. Cover and cure in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Stuffing and tying
30-45 min.Coarsely grind the cured meat mixture through the mincer (10 mm disc) or use directly as cubes. Fill into soaked pork casings (caliber 22-24) and tie off every 10-12 cm with kitchen twine. Pierce multiple times with a needle to remove air bubbles.
Drying and smoking
24-48 hrs.First dry the sausages for 4-6 hours at 25-30 °C in the smoker without smoke (keep cabinet open). Then smoke with lychee and apple wood at 65-75 °C for 20-24 hours until the casing has a deep mahogany color and appears wrinkled.
Cooling and maturing
24-48 hrs.After smoking, allow the sausages to mature at cool room temperature (12-15 °C) or in the refrigerator for another 24-48 hours. Only then are they fully dried and develop the typical Lap Cheong aroma. Ensure an internal temperature of 65-68 °C.
Pro Tip
Lap Cheong thrives on a balanced ratio of lean to fatty meat parts – approximately 70% lean to 30% fat. The fat content ensures juiciness and prevents a crumbly texture.
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