In Vietnamese cooking, Chinese sausages (lạp xường) are most commonly found in pint-sized spring rolls called bò bía, savory sticky rice (xôi), and Chinese-influenced fried rice dishes (cơm chiên). When I caught glimpse of this recipe for a Retro Thai Sausage Salad on Robyn and Dave’s amazing EatingAsia blog, I was excited to experience these wrinkly sweet sausages in a completely different way. Make sure to take Robyn’s advice and pair this salad with hot Jasmine rice. The interplay between hot and cold, snappy and yielding, and sweet and savory is really delightful.
- 6 Chinese sausages
- 4 large cucumbers
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
- 4 scallions
- 2 jalapeños
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons black soy sauce
- Salt
- Cilantro (to garnish)
Begin by slicing the sausages at an angle with a sharp knife—this will expose the maximum amount of surface to the pan’s heat. Fry the sausages over medium heat in a dry skillet or wok until they start to blister. A few black spots are fine, but don’t let them burn. Remove sausages from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
Thinly slice cucumbers into bite-size spears—remove peels if desired. Halve the scallions lengthwise (white and green parts only) and then cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Chop the jalapeños finely—remove seeds if desired.
Place the onions in a large mixing bowl and pour vinegar over. Set aside to soak for 5 minutes. To the onions, add the sausage, cucumber, scallions, and jalapeños.
Mix the fish sauce, sugar, and soy sauce, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the dressing to the onion, sausage, and cucumber mixture and toss to coat along with a bit of salt. Taste for seasoning and adjust as desired.
After assembling the salad, let it chill in the fridge for a solid thirty minutes in order for the cucumbers to soak in the dressing and slightly wilt, and for the jalapeños to unleash its heat throughout. Transfer to a plate or bowl and top with cilantro sprigs. Serve alongside hot Jasmine rice.
Serves 6 to 8.
Adapted from Thai Home-Cooking from Kamolmal’s Kitchen by William Crawford.
what bacon bits? never thought to put lap xuong on a salad…great idea!
Oh, I saw that recipe too. It looked good, but I hesitated. I think, with two recommends now, I will try it. Maybe this weekend I can go get some sausage at our local market (conveniently only 10 minutes from my house…hmmm…coincidence? I THINK NOT!).
It looks like the most refreshing one-bowl meal ever. I love it! It looks so healthy and cooling.
Now I’m craving Chinese sausages. I think a trip to 99 Ranch is in order this weekend. Thanks for the recipe.
Oh, this recipe is WAY TOO dangerous! I can eat an inordinate amount of lap xuong. I don’t even buy it for bo bia anymore because I’ll eat the whole package…
RC – Asian-style bacon bits 😉
Fiona – With two yays and not a neigh in sight, you’ve gots to make this dish. It’s really simple and good.
Phil – This dish will provide a nice breather and palate cleanser in between your molecular gastronomy feasts.
Nina – Don’t deprive yourself of lap xuong! You deserve sausagey goodness in huge quantities.
Mmmmm, this looks SO GOOD. Im gonna have to try it!
That looks freaking awesome. We have some chinese sausage in the fridge from when we were in San Francisco recently, and this looks like the perfect way to use it. Yum!
What an interesting combination, your photography makes it look especially good. Of course the banner of sausages provides the perfect lead in…
Wow, the cooking method of this dish is great, I’ll try it later and I hope it tastes the way it look. Thanks for sharing!
Just made sweet rice with lap xiong the other day – but had leftover sausage. This sounds like the perfect use of those leftovers…thanks for the recipe!