Learn how to make Chinese sausages at home with two types of flavors, spicy mala sausages and sweet Chinese sausage (lop Cheung).
Chinese sausages are our favorite New Year food and it is always satisfying to have some in the kitchen cabinet. You can easily cook them along with a pot of rice or use them in fried rice.
Each year after the winter solstice, we begin to make sausages and air cured pork belly at home. Traditionally Sichuan mala sausages are smoked. However for healthier reasons, air-cured method is much more popular than traditionally smoked way. I have introduced two types of flavors–Sichuan Mala and Cantonese sweet flavor. Both of the two types are quite popular in China now. And we usually make half Mala sausages and half sweet sausages (for the older and children).
Basic ingredients (this can make around 50 Chinese sausages, each around 20cm long)
- 5 kg pork (lean meat vs fat=7:3)
- 3 meters sausage skin (natural or synthetic)
Seasonings for sweet sausages
- 30g salt (curing salt)
- 150g rock sugar, well smashed
- 30g Chinese white spirit (In cantonese cuisine, people love to use rose wine)
- 20g ground pepper
- 1/2 cup light soy sauce
Seasonings for Mala Sausages
- 60g to 75g salt (curing salt)
- 150g chili pepper powder
- 50g freshly ground Sichuan pepper powder or whole seeds
- 50g rock sugar, well smashed
- 50g Chinese white spirit
Equipment needed
- a special sausage stuffing tool or funnel and chop stickers for stuffing the sausage
- needle (pricking the sausages to release trapped air)
- Scissors and cotton lines for tying the sausages
- Clean cloth (drying the sausages after hot water washing)
No matter what flavor you prefer, cut the pork into thin and large pieces (around 6 cm long and 4 cm wide with a thickness of 0.4cm to 0.5cm). We usually use the pork leg meat. The best ratio for Mala sausages is 7 portions of lean meat and 3 portions of fat. And the recommended ratio for sweet sausage is 2:8 (fat vs lean meat). You can slightly adjust based on your own preferences.
Then add white spirit (Chinese Baijiu) and mix well. If you cannot find Chinese baijiu, use other hard liquid to replace.
Mix all the other seasonings. For Mala sausage, mix sugar, salt, chili pepper powder and Sichuan pepper powder in. For sweet sausage, mix salt, sugar and white pepper. Massage with hands and make sure all the ingredients are well combined. Then set aside for 30 minutes.
Then soak the skin in lukewarm water.
Then set up the equipment and wrap the skin over the funnel tube. Or you can use a funnel and a chopstick as plunger. Tie one end and then cut off the remaining skin.
The machine we use is sometime like a automatic plunger. The pork meat is pushed ahead when shaking the hand shank. If you do not have this equipment, use chopstick or wood stick to push the pork..
Once finished, use a cotton line (around 10cm to 12 cm long) to tie and divide the sausage into small sections around 20cm long, so we can continue hanging and drying process.
In a large pot, add enough warm water and clean the surface. Be gentle and don’t break the sausages. You can further sterilize the sausages by brushing hard liquid (In China, we use Chinese Baijiu 白酒).
Dry with a clean cloth, then hang and dry.Left them dry outdoor during the day and hang in the kitchen at night.
We will need to wait for 10 days to 12 days for air drying.
- 5 kg pork , lean meat vs fat=7:3
- 3 meters sausage skin , natural or synthetic
- 30 g salt , curing salt
- 150 g rock sugar , well smashed
- 30 g Chinese white spirit , In cantonese cuisine, people love to use rose wine
- 20 g ground pepper
- 1/2 cup light soy sauce , Note1
- 60 g to 75g salt , curing salt
- 150 g chili pepper powder
- 50 g freshly ground Sichuan peppercorn powder , or whole seeds
- 50 g rock sugar , well smashed
- 50 g Chinese white spirit
- a special sausage stuffing tool or funnel and chop stickers for stuffing the sausage
- needle , pricking the sausages to release trapped air
- Scissors and cotton lines for tying the sausages
- Clean cloth , drying the sausages after hot water washing
-
No matter what flavor you prefer, cut the pork into thin and large pieces (around 6 cm long and 4 cm wide with a thickness of 0.4cm to 0.5cm). We usually use the pork leg meat. The best ratio for Mala sausages is 7 portions of lean meat and 3 portions of fat. And the recommended ratio for sweet sausage is 2:8 (fat vs lean meat). You can slightly adjust based on your own preferences.
-
Then add white spirit (Chinese Baijiu) and mix well. If you cannot find Chinese baijiu, use other hard liquid to replace.
-
Mix all the other seasonings. For Mala sausage, mix sugar, salt, chili pepper powder and Sichuan pepper powder in. For sweet sausage, mix salt, sugar and white pepper. Massage with hands and make sure all the ingredients are well combined. Then set aside for 30 minutes.
-
Soak the skin in warm water.
-
Then set up the equipment and wrap the skin over the funnel tube. Or you can use a funnel and a chopstick as plunger. Tie one end and then cut off the remaining skin.
-
The machine we use is sometime like a automatic plunger. The pork meat is pushed ahead when shaking the hand shank. If you do not have this equipment, use chopstick or wood stick to push the pork into the skin.
-
Once finished, use a cotton line (around 10cm to 12 cm long) to tie and divide the sausage into small sections around 20cm long, so we can continue hanging and drying process.
-
In a large pot, add enough warm water and clean the surface (the purpose is cleaning). Be gentle and don’t break the sausages. You can further sterilize the sausages by brushing hard liquid (In China, we use Chinese Baijiu).
-
Dry with a clean cloth, then hang and dry. Use a small needle to prick the sausages to release trapped air. Left them dry outdoor during the day and hang in the kitchen at night.
Note 1: I love to add a small amount of light soy sauce to my sweet sausage but is it optional. If you plan to skip light soy sauce, increase the salt to 40g.
After 12 days of air-drying in cold wind. Cut off the extra lines and place in air-tight container; freeze up for half year.
How to cook Chinese sausages
The easiest method is to cook a long log along with steamed rice in a rice cooker and thinly sliced before serving. Or you can pre-slice them and cook in clay pot rice.
Thank you just the recipe I need. But I have one question can I buy the lean meat and get the fat separately
Sure!
That’s just what I do, o get 6lbs at a time course ground and break it into 3lb portions, a pork butt and 3lbs of fat is perfect.
I love Chinese Sausage and it’s one of my favorite breakfast paired with fried rice..now i know how easy it was to make this sausage, I’ll definitely give this a try..thanks for sharing : )
Yes, it is. Quite easy and enjoying to make.
i know it must be TRUE but to clarify these sausages aren’t “cooked” in any way just dried? no smoking? just drying and that is it? thanks 🙂
Air-drying is the new winning technique. We used to smoke them. But smoked version is less healthy.
Aloha, I live in Hawaii. I don’t have cold air, any suggestions for drying knowing that?
Tracey
I think you can firstly dry them with kitchen paper and hang the sausages in a fridge.
though smoking is the traditional way of making them
nice thanks Elaine—-also “well smashed” for the rock sugar—-does that mean just little bits of rock sugar are still ok—-as you probably don’t mean to crush it until it is like regular sugar—–sorry for the dumb question but I just want to make sure—- 🙂 cheers—
The large pieces of rock sugar may break the skin, so we usually break them into very small pieces. But there is no need to crush it like granulated sugar.
I made the savory one and it was GREAT! Thanks! I used the dried/smoked chili flakes I brought home from Guizhou on my last trip to China— I work as a Chinese cuisine cook and Sichuan dishes in general—-I lived in China several years—-one VERY important aspect of this recipe which should be perhaps changed is the “type” of salt used which is very important. The type of salt to dry air sausages MUST be what is called a “pink salt” here in the U.S.—a special salt for curing meats—and thus the beautiful red color or your photo above—-if one uses regular table salt it can be quite dangerous and even result in botulism and possible death—-so a very important point. I LOVE you site and think you are doing a great job—
Thanks for pointing that out Jack. We use our common salt in China for homemade sausages. Basically I have almost no idea about the types of salt in the U.S. Can you help to explain more about this for me?
Generally all meats turn brown when aged—dried—-the only way it turns a nice reddish color like these typical Chinese sausages and in western countries the salami sausages and many many others have a red color to the meat after it has cured/dried. The only way that happens is if a “curing” salt is used—-I made this recipe but upon realizing it could be dangerous I simply smoked them for an hour then pan-fried some to eat and froze the rest. There is also something called “salt-peter” which is also a curing agent used in the U.S. and other countries—-I “think” what the authors write about is “if” one doesn’t use a curing salt then “if” the conditions during air-drying is not optimal—-then—the meat could develop various dangerous bacteria. That said, if your sausage meat is quite red when finished air-drying and you are just using normal table salt—-then I don’t know what to think except that perhaps ALL salt in China is curing salt? 🙂 I don’t know…anyhow—I am still intrigued by this recipe and will attempt it with the “pink salt” or curing salt to see what happens…..cheers—-
the traditional chinese sausage is always cooked before consumed in China and mostly at a very high temperature which eliminates the risk of botulism. However, if anyone were to eat it without cooking along the lines of other dried sausages then using pink salt would be highly advisable 🙂
excellent info on curing meats with pink salt thanks pernille
THIS IS SO COOL!!! Bookmarked it to try one day – it’s so hard to find good quality lap cheong here =(
Homemade sausage has a better taste with more qualified ingredients. We use high quality pork and the freshest spices. They comes out quite satisfying.
after reading many more recipes i have come to the conclusion that you are most likely correct as not many use anything other than regular salt—-seems the pin-pricking allows for the bacteria NOT to grow inside—-I think the saltpeter is used only has an added safety (probably not required) by some people in western countries who take too much of a precaution when making this. The one recipe I did notice it used is this one which seems quite nice—https://dentistvschef.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/recipe-homemade-chinese-sausage-lap-cheong-or-dry-cured-pork-sausage/#comment-12996
cheers and thanks for your recipes! 😉
Hello Elaine,
Thank you for the gorgeous recipe and pictures. I have one question, though: what would qualify as adequately cold wind to complete the air-drying process? I I live in a very cold area, and was wondering if “any” type of weather could work out. Thank you!
Hi Heloise,
The best temperature for sausages should be around 4 degree C to 12 degree C. Drier weather is the best.
Hello, thank you for this! I know it’s a stupid question, but you are stuffing the meat cut up in the 6x4cm pieces, you are not grinding it correct? Thanks so much! – Emma
Hi Emma,
Yes, we do not grind the meat and there is no need to do that. When cooked, the sausages usually are diced or sliced. So it is ok to stuff the meat into large pieces.
I would like to ask if you have the recipe for the “yun Cheong”.This is the type of sausage that uses liver and pork meat. Appreciate the recipe if you have it.. Thanks!
Hi Carol,
Personally I did not make the brownish black liver sausage at home. So I do not have a precise recipe. I really hope to help but sorry.
Hello, if we do not cook the saussage and let it dry for several days, would not it smell bad and goes bad?
Hi Ng,
Those sausages can be only air dried in winter when the temperature is under 10 degree C. After drying, you need to transfer them to freezer for longer keeping.
Hi Elaine,
I would like to seek clarification about the ingredients. You said the 5 kg pork is enough to make 50 sausages. How about the seasoning itself? The amount indicated for the sweet sausages is enough for 50 sausages too or 25 (assuming that you make both flavours)?
Hi Tammy,
That’s a good question. All the seasonings I listed are for 5 kg pork (around 50 sausages). I make those two flavors in two different batches.
Well then, isn’t the salt content way too low (6 g per kg meat for the sweet version and 15 g per kg meat for the Mala). AFAIK the lowest salt content in sausages is about 20%, plus curing salt plus starter cultures. What is going to prevent spoilage here?
Vladimir,
I am using local well salt instead of coarse salt. So there is no need to use such a high salt content. Besides, we make those sausages only in cold water with strong natural wind or smoking. After drying, the sausages are kept in freezer.
Hi Elaine ,
I would like to know about how much humidity is going to need and is there anyway to accelerate the drying time.
Hi Thant,
To make sausages, lower humidity is the best. If you want to accelerate the drying time, hanging them in places with stronger wind can help.
is there any way to dry the sausage within 4 to 6 hours by using oven, I want to accelerate the drying process as fast as possible. because I’m produce lots of sausage now and so much demand. I want to accelerate like a commercial producer.
I love the Chinese sausage with liver in the mix. Do you know how to do this? I like the plain ones like your recipe, too, and use them when I can’t find the others, but the ones with liver (I suppose from Viet Nam), are really my favorite. Thanks for the recipe and instructions. They will get me started. 😉
Hi Beejay,
I love to help but I am not familiar with liver sausage. There are some people mix liver and pork together, but I have never tried before.
Hi ,
Want to make them but it’s summer at the moment and usually make them in winter and hang them to dry in the cold air so what is the other option of drying the sausages? Can I use a dehydrator?
Thanks
No, dehydrator cannot produce the same flavor with air drying in cold winter.
Hi
For how long do we sterilise the sausages in the pot of boiling water?
That process should be very quick, as long as the sticky lay is removed.
Hi there! I’m kind of late to the game but I noticed you don’t include any curing salts (sodium nitrite) in your recipe. Botulism is a real possibility with this recipe if you are air drying it. It could be ok if temperatures are low enough but still.. I wouldn’t recommend anyone try this without curing salts. You may not get sick but it is like playing Russian roulette. About humidity, lower humidity isn’t necessarily better for drying. Yes it will dry faster but only the outer most portions of the sausage will dry leaving the inner portion still most and increasing the risk of spoilage.
Anyways I had some of the spicy smoked sausage in China last year and it was amazing. I’m definitely going to try your recipe. Thanks!
Andy,
Thanks for the helpful information. In China, we don’t use table salt and curing salt. All of the salt are used during the cooking process and can be used directly for dried foods.
But you give us a very good point concerning about this problem. I will add this as a supplementary information in the recipe.
For the humidity, relative humidity should be around 60% to 70%. We have relative humidity higher around 92% in winter days. High humidity is not a good option for air-drying and smoking.
I would like to try your recipe. I don’t have a weighing scale, only volume measurement (like tablespoon, cup, ect..). The recipe script poses an impediment until I could get a weighing scale.
Other than that, the recipe looks very good. I have been searching around the internet. Will try at later point in once I have all the ingredient.
Dan,
The recipe comes with large weight. I believe cups and tablespoon really is time consuming to use. So I give the grams only. I am quite sorry, but I don’t think I get the problem to add the volume measurement in a near future.
Yes, hot water is just used to clean the sausage.
I just finished making the sweet sausage with your recipe yesterday. My back and shoulder is still hurting from the 6 hours manual labour (I didn’t think that I would need a sausage stuffing machine). One can certainly do it with a pair of chopstick and a funnel (I cut out the top of a water bottle since I didn’t have a funnel available in my kitchen at the moment). I had a few pieces of meat left pver so I went ahead and fry them up for a quick snack with some rice. They were delicious! The seasonings were just right, and I did add around 30 to 40 grams of chilly and paprika powder because I like it just a tiny bit spicy. They are being dried s0 I can’t really say anything about it, but I am so excited. I do take them in when the sun goes down and allow them to air dry with the help of a blowing fan at high speed. I can’t waot to see how this would turn out! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
wow, you make such a big batch. I can image how tough those 6 hours can be since we used to make sausages with chopstick and funnel. but Let me know how it turns out. By the way, where are you located and what’s your temperature.
I’d never seen a recipe for the mala flavor, so thanks very much for this!
Beejay,
Mala sausage is the best ever star in Sichuan cuisine. Hope you can enjoy it one day.
Hi Elaine,
Thank you for your recipe. I am curious about the approximate weight of each sausage after 12 days air drying. Can you help. I found the rose cooking wine( osha brand) at local food store with 54% alcohol by volume, can I use it instead of Chinese Baijiu.? Thank you for your help.
Yes, 54% alcohol by volume rose cooking wine is ok for the sausage. After air-frying, the sausages usually lose around 1/4 to 1/3 weight based on how dry they are.
Belle leçon de charcuterie et très bien expliquée. Merci et bisous Chris 06
You are the most welcome, Chris.
How long would you smoke them.
It actually depends. In the old time, we hang them on our stove and smoke for around 1 week or even longer. But if you get a good smoking house, 48 hours should be enough.
I’ve been looking for a recipe like this for a while, and am so happy to have found it! Quick question: which curing salt do you use–Prague powder #1 or #2? Thanks!
Hi Rich,
I use our local well salt for curing and I am not sure which catalog it belongs to. However I recommend you use #2 Prague powder for Chinese sausages.
What’s the best natural red coloring to use with the sausages?
Hi George,
We usually use red rice powder as nature red coloring for sausages, buns and cakes.
You mentioned a curing salt in the comments but I don’t see it in the recipe. Do you recommend it?
Also, do you use a coloring agent?
I don’t use any coloring agent, red pepper will bring the color. I use our local well salt which is quite good for sausages. You can use any type of curing salt.
Thank you for your reply. What is a “well” salt?
It is local salt which is produced with liquid from ” Salt Wells“. This type of salt has been used for pickled and preserved vegetables in China for quite a long history.