Chinese Sausage is an umami-rich, sweet yet savory delight. It’s like the rockstar of Chinese cuisine, and I’m here to show you how to pair it with perfectly cooked white rice and a homemade sweet soy sauce. 

Chinese Sausage and Rice Recipe in a bowl

Why This Chinese Sausage And Rice Is So Good

  • Unbeatable Flavor Combo: Chinese sausage is slightly chewy and wonderfully fatty with a unique sweet and savory flavor. It’s a taste that’s hard to replicate and even harder to forget.
  • Sauce That Sings: Forget regular soy sauce. This is a sweet, addictive, umami-rich sauce that brings the whole dish together and a simple way to elevate the humble rice and make it shine.
  • Faster Than Takeout: Craving something quick and satisfying? This dish comes together faster than you can say “Chinese sausage and rice, please!” It’s the perfect quick dinner solution for busy evenings. Makes a great main course or side dish!
  • Simple Ingredient List: You don’t need a pantry full of exotic ingredients to make this easy Chinese sausage recipe. Just a handful of simple items, and you’re all set to whip up your new favorite meal.

Ingredients 

  • Long grain jasmine rice
  • Water
  • Chinese sausage

For The Sweet Soy Sauce

  • Cooking oil
  • Garlic cloves, shallots
  • Soy sauce, dark soy sauce
  • Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
  • Sugar
  • Water
  • Asian sesame oil

How To Make This Chinese Sausage And Rice – Step By Step

  1. Let’s wash the raw rice grains fist. Fill a pot with the rice and enough water (cold) to cover it. Use your hands to swish the rice grains, loosening any extra starch and dirt. Rice (like beans) is a raw ingredient and it is important to wash and rinse! Washing also rids the rice of extra starch, which will give us light, fluffy, airy rice – not heavy, sticky and starchy. Tip the pot and carefully pour out the water. Repeat a couple of times. Drain as much water as possible from the pot. 
  2. Measure and add in the 2 3/4 cups of water. Snuggle the sausage in the rice grains. Turn the heat to high. When the water near the edge of the pot starts bubbling, cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 18 minutes. Note: While the rice is cooking, make the Sweet Soy Sauce. 
  3. When the rice is finished cooking, turn off heat and keep covered – no peeking! Let it sit with the lid on for 5 minutes to finish the steaming process.
  4. Remove the sausages (careful, they are hot!) and slice them on the diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick pieces. Arrange the sausages on top of the rice and drizzle the Sweet Soy Sauce on top. Serve extra Sweet Soy Sauce at the table for drizzling.

Sweet Soy Sauce

  1. In a small saucepan, add in the oil, garlic and shallot. Turn heat to low and let the garlic and shallot cook slowly until they begin to brown but not burn. Use a slotted spoon and remove the shallots and garlic and discard, leaving the flavored oil. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until thickened, about 2-3 minutes.
 

Chinese Sausage and Rice Recipe - uncooked

What Is Chinese Sausage?

Sweet-salty, smokey, savory and unctuous with little pockets of fat that just melt during cooking. Think of candied bacon. Or when maple syrup from your pancake pools onto your thick bacon. That’s about the closest I can get to a description.

Chinese sausage – 臘腸 lap cheong (Cantonese) làcháng (Mandarin) is a cured sausage usually steamed or diced and stir-fried in a wok. 

Chinese sausage is unlike any meat you’ve ever eaten before. “Lap Cheong” 臘腸’s main ingredients are pork and fat. The pork sausages are marinated, salted and smoked. You can also find different types of Chinese sausages made from duck liver or pork liver too (darker deep reddish/brown color) at many Chinese markets, but of course they will render different results when it comes to flavor.

How to Store This Sausage

Your local Asian market will likely have sweet Chinese sausage in stock. Since it’s dried, cured and smoked, the package will last for over a year if unopened (also check the expiration date on package). You can also freeze the package for a long time If you’ve opened a package and only use a few links, wrap the remaining tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 6 months or store in freezer.

I prefer Chinese sausage WITHOUT liver. Read the package carefully. The liver sausage is darker, like a blood-red color. Regular pork-based Chinese sausage is a dull-brick red color.

packaged sausage

sausage hanging up If you’ve got a Chinatown in your area, sometimes you’ll find Chinese sausage hanging by string like the photo above! (photo source)

Easiest Way to Cook Chinese Sausage

The easiest way to cook Chinese sausage is to snuggle the links into the same pot (or rice cooker) you are cooking rice. The fatty sausage will cook and flavor the rice at the same time.

Chinese Sausage and Rice Recipe - sliced sausage

Sweet Soy Sauce to Drizzle over Rice

Years ago, Mom taught me her recipe for a simple sweet soy sauce. This is a sauce that you’ll find drizzled on Chinese Clay Pot Chicken & Rice. We love this sweet soy sauce just with Chinese Sausage and rice.

The sauce starts with flavoring oil with garlic and shallots in the wok, and adding a combination of soy sauce, dark soy sauce and rice wine.

Dark soy sauce is a dark, thick, sweeter, less-salty soy sauce used in braises and sauces.

soy sauce

If you don’t have dark soy sauce, that’s okay. Substitute with regular soy sauce and a teaspoon of honey or molasses.

Top Tips For Chinese Sausage And Rice

  • Rinse the rice before cooking, to remove the starch.
  • The sweet soy sauce is optional, this dish has a lot of flavor on it’s own.
  • When the rice has finished cooking, don’t open the lid right away, let the rice steam for 5 mins.
  • You can use rice wine or dry sherry.

FAQ

What kind of rice works best for Chinese Sausage and Rice? Long grain rice, especially jasmine rice, is your best bet. It cooks up fluffy and light, which is perfect for soaking up the soy sauce. While you can use sticky rice or glutinous rice for a different texture, jasmine rice really lets the unique flavor of the Chinese sausage shine.

Can I add vegetables to this dish to make it more balanced? Of course! Adding vegetables like green beans, Chinese broccoli, or even some thinly sliced bell peppers can turn this dish into a more balanced meal. Just give them a quick stir fry over medium-high heat before adding them to the rice. It’s a great way to sneak in some greens, especially if you’re serving this to the little ones. I also recommend topping it off with some green onions, if that’s your thing. 

How can I store and reheat leftovers? Leftover Chinese Sausage and Rice can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, simply microwave it with a bit of water to keep the rice moist. You can also stir fry it in a pan over medium heat. In fact, using leftover rice can give you a nice, slightly chewy texture that’s just as delicious the next day.

Chinese Sausage and Rice Recipe Video

 
Featuring “Cupcake Marshall” courtesy of Bluedot

More Chinese Sausage Recipes

Have you tried this Chinese Sausage and Rice recipe? Feel free to leave a star rating and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Chinese Sausage and Rice Recipe - with Sweet Soy Sauce

Jaden
The Sweet Soy Sauce is optional - trust me, the Chinese Sausage will have plenty of flavor alone. Cook the Sweet Soy Sauce while your Chinese Sausage and rice cook. The Sweet Soy Sauce includes dark soy sauce. If you do not have dark soy sauce, substitute: with 2T regular soy sauce + 1 tsp honey or molasses.
4.34 from 6 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese
Servings 4 people
Calories 584 kcal

Ingredients
  

For the Chinese Sausage and Rice

  • 1 1/2 cups long grain rice jasmine rice preferred
  • 2 3/4 cups water
  • 4 Chinese sausage links or more

For the Sweet Soy Sauce

  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil neutral flavored (vegetable, canola)
  • 2 cloves garlic smashed
  • 1 shallot roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce for substitute, see notes at top of recipe
  • 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1/4 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

Instructions
 

Cook the Chinese Sausage and Rice

  • Let's wash the raw rice grains fist. Fill a pot with the rice and cold water to cover. Use your hands to swish the rice grains, loosening any extra starch and dirt. Rice (like beans) is a raw ingredient and it is important to wash and rinse! Washing also rids the rice of extra starch, which will give us light, fluffy, airy rice - not heavy, sticky and starchy. Tip the pot and carefully pour out the water. Repeat two more times. Drain as much water as possible from the pot. 
  • Measure and add in the 2 3/4 cups of water.
    Snuggle the sausage in the rice grains. Turn the heat to high. When the water near the edge of the pot starts bubbling, cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 18 minutes. Note: While the rice is cooking, make the Sweet Soy Sauce. 
  • When the rice is finished cooking, turn off heat and keep covered - no peeking! Let it sit with the lid on for 5 minutes to finish the steaming process.
  • Remove the sausages (careful, they are hot!) and slice them on the diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick pieces. Arrange the sausages on top of the rice and drizzle the Sweet Soy Sauce on top. Serve extra Sweet Soy Sauce at the table for drizzling.

Sweet Soy Sauce

  • In a small saucepan, add in the oil, garlic and shallot. Turn heat to low and let the garlic and shallot cook slowly until they begin to brown but not burn. Use a slotted spoon and remove the shallots and garlic and discard, leaving the flavored oil. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 584kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 19gFat: 39gSaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 85mgSodium: 1801mgPotassium: 361mgSugar: 13gVitamin C: 3.2mgCalcium: 37mgIron: 1.9mg
Keyword chinese sausage, rice
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