hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re kicking off a BRAND new series, and diving into the wonderful, weird, and surprisingly delicious world of pan-asian fusion cuisine. More specifically, today we’re taking a crack at a recipe inspired one sent to me by reddit user u/Juno_Malone for an Italian Pasta Carbonara that most prominently strays from its traditional carbonara origins with its inclusion of a Chinese pork “lap cheong” sausage. For those unfamiliar, a traditional carbonara makes use of guanciale “pork cheek” (or here in the states, usually pancetta or bacon) that has had its fat rendered into liquid form, and is then combined with spaghetti and an egg and parmesan slurry for a simple but delicious creamy pasta. 

Today we’ll be omitting that guanciale in favor of a Chinese “lap cheong” sausage, then incorporating two of my very favorite forms of subtle heat, a bit of dried toasted Tian Jin peppers, and a healthy serving of lao gan ma chile crisp oil. Hope you try it. 

 

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

  • 8oz (about 4 links) lap cheong sausage

  • 16oz bronze die cut spaghetti

  • 4oz parmesan cheese

  • 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

  • 2 tbsp lao gan ma

  • 6-8 dried Tian Jin peppers

  • kosher salt

  • peanut oil

PREP

  • CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside

  • FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside

  • FINE MINCE the lap cheong, set aside

  • GRATE the parmesan cheese, set aside

  • WHISK the eggs plus 1 egg yolk, then combine with the parmesan cheese

  • ADD lao gan ma to the egg slurry, then whisk to combine, set aside


ON THE STOVE

  • BOIL a pot of water and season with a 1/4 cup kosher salt

  • ADD spaghetti to the pot, then cook to al dente (or 1 minute shy of package instructions)

  • RESERVE 2 cups pasta water, set aside

  • STRAIN the pasta, then set aside

  • ADD the lap cheong to a cold wok and gradually bring up the heat of the stove over 5 minutes until the fat renders to a liquid form

  • REMOVE from heat, then add 4 tbsp of the fat back to the wok and long yao

  • ADD the garlic, ginger, and whites of the green onions, then bloom until fragrant for about 10 seconds

  • ADD the pasta and lap cheong back to the wok, and toss to combine

  • LOWER the heat of the wok to medium low, then add the egg slurry and about 1/4 cup of pasta water

  • TOSS to combine, and gradually add more pasta water until a creamy sauce forms

 

tagged with woo can cook, lap cheong, lap cheong carbonara, chinese sausage, fusion cooking