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.
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.
Prague powder #2 is used for very long cures as it contains nitrates. You should use prague powder #1 for short cures. Heating up nitrates (if using prague powder #2, and before the nitrates have all turned into nitrites, i.e. a short cure) to a high temperature such as when frying or grilling leads to the formation of nitrosamines, which are carcinogenic. This is why you always use #1 and not #2 for e.g. bacon. #2 is used for things like ham or salami.
In short, use prague powder #1 (which has just table salt (sodium chloride) and sodium nitrite) for short cures like this. Use the recommended ratio for cured cooked sausages, then just plain salt for any extra seasoning you may need.
Thanks Brendan for the explanation.
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.
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for this. How does one air dry properly and avoid bacteria growing on the meat. I’ve been meaning to try this for a while but I worry about the dust and insects flying around outside. Or does the alcohol take care of that?
Felicia,
Almost all Chinese style sausages and cured meats are air-dried. We only make this in extremely cold whether. Both the low temperature and alcohol can help to avoid too much bacteria.
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