Chinese sausage is a dried, hard sausage usually made from pork meat

Chinese sausage is a dried, hard sausage usually made from pork meat and a high content of fat. The chinese name for sausages is "Lap Chong" which means the "winter stuffed intestine" or "waxed intestine" because "chong" not only means "intestine" but also "sausage". This sausage is normally smoked, sweetened, and seasoned. It is used as an ingredient in many dishes in some parts of southern China, including Hong Kong and countries in Southeast Asia. It is for example, used in fried rice, noodle and other dishes. Chinese sausages formulations are unique, based on long tradition.

Ingredients like monosodium glutamate, soy sauce and sugar are added to the sausages in very high levels. The addition of selected Chinese rice wines or even scotch or sherry are common for certain quality products.The most popular spice is cinnamon since Chinese manufacturers believe that it acts as a preservative. Chinese sausages may be divided into meat sausages (Yuen Chong) and liver sausages (Goin Chong). A special class of sausages are chicken liver sausages containing chicken livers or chicken livers combined with selected young pork livers.

1	meat selection	Pork butt, 5 lbs, (2.3 kg), if using lean pork or lean pork trimmings add 30 % of pork backfat.	soy sauce	45 g	1/4 cup
			sugar	100 g	7 Tbs
			monosodium glutamate	6 g	1 tsp
			cinnamon	2 g	1 tsp
	ingredients		chinese rice wine	50 g	1/4 cup
			water	250 mg	1 cup
			Cure # 2	6 g	1 tsp
2	dicing or	The tradititional Chinese way, still applied today, is a time consumming operation of cutting meat and fat by hand into small cubes.
3	grinding	Grind pork through the 3/8" (10 mm) plate. Mix mixture with Cure # 2 and let stand for 3 hours at 41º- 46º F (5º-8º C).
4	mixing	Add 1 cup cold water and mix everything well together including all other ingredients. Water is added to facilitate mixing and stuffing.
5	stuffing	Stuff into narrow 18-24 mm sheep casings and make 5" - 6" long links.Tie both ends with a light butcher twine.Traditional Chinese method uses pieces of straw. Prick sausages on all sides with a needle to remove air and to facilitate water vapor escape during smoking.
6	drying/smoking	Dry applying light smoke for 48 hours at 122º F (50º C).
7	drying	Dry without smoke for 24 hours at 140º - 150º F (60º - 65º C). You should achieve about 40 % weight loss.
8	cooking	none
9	cooling	Remove sausages from the smokehouse and hang in a well ventillated area for a few hours
10	storing	Hold in a dry room
Notes	Popular Chinese wine is Mei Kwei Lo. The sausage color is dark reddish-brown. Its surface is normally shrivelled due to quick drying.

Chinese sausages, Kuala Lumpur market. The different sausages are distinguished by the color of the sausage hanging string. Above photos courtesy fao.org