Spicy Lap Cheong Pasta

The pasta gives me slightly puttanesca vibes in the use of pantry staples, aliums, and umami-rich protein, but like.. Chinese. It relies on three Chinese pantry staples: lap cheong, tobandjan, and dried shiitake. Lap cheong aka xiang tsang is a cured, slightly sweet and savory Chinese sausage, and tobandjan is a fermented chili bean sauce that has a strong kick and good umami that’s often used in mapo tofu and dan dan noodles.

My mom’s always told me that Canadian sausage was better and I finally found some at May Wah in the Richmond in San Francisco (they had two different Canadian brands!). The sausage was fatty, juicy, and flavorful! Big fan.

I used:

• 2 servings of spaghetti
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced, white and greens separated
• 1 tsp tobandjan
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 stick of lap cheong (Chinese sausage), cubed
• 3 medium-sized dried shiitake, rehydrated, tough stems remove and thinly sliced
• lemon

To make:

• cook pasta to desired consistency, reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water
• heat up oil in a pan over medium heat and sauté shallots, garlic, and scallion whites until fragrant and shallots turn translucent ~1-2 minutes
• add doubanjiang and fry paste for ~30 seconds
• add in lap cheong and shiitake and give it a quick stir
• incorporate in reserved pasta water and soy sauce, and simmer on medium-low for a minute
• stir in pasta, adding more water if it looks a little dry
• serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and garnish with scallion greens