Meat · Cured & processed meats
Chinese sausage (lap cheong)
Sweet, dried Cantonese pork sausage (lap cheong), slim and dark red; steamed with rice or sliced into stir-fries.
Also called: lap cheong, lap chong, lap cheung, lachang, la chang, chinese dried sausage, lạp xưởng
Around the world: 臘腸, 腊肠, lap cheong, lachang (zh)
A kind of pork
What it is
Lap cheong is a firm, dried sausage of coarsely chopped pork and pork fat, seasoned with sugar, soy sauce and rice wine. It is about 15 cm long, slender, wrinkled and deep red with white fat flecks. It is sweeter than European cured sausages and needs cooking before eating. Liver versions are darker.
How it’s used
- Steamed on top of rice (bao zai fan)
- Sliced into fried rice and stir-fries
- Turnip cake (lo bak go) and sticky rice
- Chopped into dumplings and zongzi
Characteristics
- Taste
- Sweet, salty and savoury with a hint of rice wine.
- Texture
- Firm and dense; soft and juicy after steaming.
- When cooked
- Steam for 10–15 minutes or slice and fry; the fat renders and glazes the slices.
- Sold as
- cured, dried
- Cooking uses
- Commonly cooked, Suitable for frying
- Common in
- Cantonese, Chinese, Hong Kong, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Singaporean
Storage
Refrigerated. Keep in the fridge or a cool, dry place once opened; it also freezes well.
Diet, allergens and safety
No major allergens in typical versions. May contain Soy, Wheat, Gluten, Sulphites — check the label.
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
- Egg-free
- Gluten-free (check label)
- Nut-free
- Soy-free (check label)
- Caffeine-free
- Needs cooking before eating.
- Processed meat, high in salt and sugar; may contain soy, wheat/gluten and sulphites.
Nutrition per 100 g
- Energy
- 407 kcal
- Protein
- 22.58 g
- Carbohydrate
- 1.6 g
- Fat
- 33.72 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
- Sugars
- — g
USDA FoodData Central: Salami, dry or hard, pork (a close stand-in).
Substitutes
Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.
Related ingredients
Recipes with chinese sausage (lap cheong)
Char kway teow
Malaysian · 35 min · 886 kcal
Claypot rice with chicken and Chinese sausage
Hong Kong · 1 h 15 min · 816 kcal
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