Waxed Sausage (Lap Cheong)

Ingredients:

600g pork fillet

60g pork fat

20g sausage casing

some rafia string

Seasoning:

1 tbsp Chinese rose wine

2 tbsp light soya sauce

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp saltpeter (optional)

2 tsp warm water (to dissolve saltpeter)

Method:

1. Soak sausage casing with warm water till soft. Fix it to water tap and rinse until clean. Drain.

2. Wash and slice pork fillet to about 1 cm thick pieces and pork fat into 1/2 cm thick pieces.

3. Place sliced meat into a big bowl. Firstly, add in the saltpeter solution and mix well. Next, add in the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Leave to marinate overnight.

4. Tie off one end of sausage casing, attach a funnel to the other end and gather sausage casing on funnel tube. Stuff marinated meat into casing. Squeeze to distribute filling evenly throughout the casing. When it is about 12-15 cm long, cut it off and tie with a raffia string. Prick generously on all sides of sausages to expel air.

5. Boil a pot of water. When boiling, put in the sausages to scald it. Remove and hang outside to dry or in a well-circulated area for 4 to 5 days.

6. Sausage may be steamed, deep-fried or baked, all over low heat for about 8 minutes. To serve, slice into paper-thin pieces.