Lap Cheong and Egg Fried Rice

Lap Cheong Fried Rice

Lap Cheong is a Chinese hard sausage made from pork and pork fat that is usually smoked, sweetened and seasoned. I generally freeze the package of lap cheong since I so rarely use it. It's easy to remove the casing by soaking the sausage links in boiling water until the casings puff up. They're easy to then peel off, making it less difficult to slice. I like to season the rice for depth of flavour and mix it with eggs to give the fried rice a golden hue.

This fried rice is a one-dish meal that needs no more than a bowl of soup for company. It has all four food groups and is a complete meal unto itself.

Ingredients

2 cups of day-old rice

2 eggs, beaten 

1/2 tsp. ajinomoto

1/2 tsp. salt or to taste

2 Tbsp. light soy sauce

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 + 2 Tbsp. butter

2 eggs, beaten

2 links lap cheong, peeled and diced

2 tsp. preserved turnip strips, minced

1 large onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 green chilies, minced

1 carrot, sliced and julienned

1/2 cup diced celery

1 large tomato, diced

1/4 iceberg lettuce or cabbage, julienned

4-5 stalks cilantro, minced
2 stalks green onions, minced for garnish

salt to taste

Directions

1. Season rice with salt, ajinomoto, oil, light soy sauce, mix in 2 beaten eggs and set aside.
2. Boil lap cheong in water until casings puff up, peel, dice and set aside.
3. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in oil and fry lap cheong and turnip strips.
4. Fry onions until translucent, add garlic, green chilies and tomatoes and stir-fry for a few minutes.
5. Add carrots and celery, and season with salt and ajinomoto.
6. Move vegetables to one side and melt remaining butter.
7. Scramble remaining eggs and combine with vegetables.
8. Stir rice into eggs and vegetables and stir-fry until rice is coated well with butter.
9. Adjust salt to taste, stir well and garnish with julienned lettuce, cilantro and green onions.

Serve hot.