Chinese sausage

Chinese sausage is a generic term referring to the many different types of sausages originating from China.

Varieties

There is a choice of fatty or skimmed sausages. There are different kinds ranging in those made using fresh pork to those made using pig livers, duck livers and even turkey livers. Usually a livery sausage will be darker in colour than one made without liver. Recently, there have even been countries producing chicken Chinese sausages. Traditionally they are classified into two main types. It is sometimes rolled and steamed in dim sum.

* La Chang is a dried, hard sausage usually made from pork and a high content of fat. It is normally smoked, sweetened, and seasoned.
* Xiang Chang is a fresh and plump sausage consisting of coarsely chopped pieces of pork and pork fat. The sausage is rather sweet in taste.
* Ren Chang is made using duck liver. Ren Chang is not sweet in taste.

Regional

Southern Chinese

Chinese sausage is used as an ingredient in quite a number of dishes in China, including Hong Kong and the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi and Hunan, as well as countries in Southeast Asia. Two common examples of such dishes within Chinese cuisine include fried rice and ''lo mai gai''.

Many other examples include ''popiah'' and ''char kway teow'' in Fujian, Malaysia and Singapore. The traditional unpackaged forms are usually found in street market or wet markets.

Taiwan

Taiwan also produces a similar form of sausage, however they are rarely dried in the manner of Cantonese sausages. As well, the fat and meat may be emulsified and they contain a larger amount of sugar and is thus sweeter in taste. These sausages are usually produced by local butchers and sold at the markets or made directly at home. This variant of Chinese Sausage is known as ''xiangchang'' in Mandarin Chinese, literally meaning fragrant sausage. Although much loved by Taiwanese everywhere, this type of sausage is not commonly available outside the region.

Singapore

Singapore has been coming up with many innovative Chinese sausages that are healthy. Examples that are created in Singapore are Chinese sausages with low fat, low sodium content and even a high fibre version.

Myanmar

In , the sausage is called either "Kyet-ou-gyaung" or "Wet-ou-gyaung" . The sausages made in Myanmar are more meaty and compact compared to the ones in Singapore or China. They are usually used in fried rice and along with fried vegetables, mostly cabbage.

Thailand

In , the Chinese sausage is called "Koon Chiang" or "????????".
There is also Chinese sausage made with Snake-headed Fish meat.

Vietnam

In , the Chinese sausage is called "l?p x??ng" or "l?p x??ng".

Overseas

It is available in Asian supermarkets overseas mostly in the vacuum-packaged form, although some Chinese groceries sell the unpackaged varieties as well. These tend to be made locally, for example much of the Chinese sausage sold in Canada is produced by a number of manufacturers based in Vancouver and Toronto.