Lap cheong pearl pastina
Giant couscous cooked in the style of risotto or pastina, laced with the sweetness and spices of Chinese sausage and finished with truffle oil.
The cooking liqueur in the first edition of this recipe was made using chicken stock and miso paste. In future renditions, a homemade dashi will result in a hopefully more oceanic, umami base flavour.
You can also throw in some white wine as is traditional with this kind of dish, but I rarely have any and it works out just fine. Use your best judgement.
Ingredients:
​
-
Butter
-
Oil
-
Shallot
-
Garlic
-
Enough lap cheong to go in the dish and to garnish it
-
Honey
-
Pearl couscous/pastina/orzo/risotto/whatever you want
-
Miso paste
-
Stock
-
Parmesan
-
White pepper
-
Truffle oil
-
Spring onions
Method:
​
-
Prepare the stock. If using homemade, just heat. If using cubes/powder or anything of that sort, make it. Stir in the miso paste. You can skip the stock or the miso and just use one of the two if you prefer.
-
Finely mince the shallots and garlic, slice the spring onions, and cut the lap cheong into whatever size you fancy.
-
Put the lap cheong to a cold pot and fry until the fat has rendered and it starts to blacken. Remove half to a paper towel lined bowl for garnishing.
-
Add butter to the pot followed by the shallots, and more oil if necessary. Sauté for a few minutes before adding the garlic.
-
Pour in a spoonful of honey, cook for a couple more minutes and add the pearl couscous. Toast until the colour deepens and the shallots are browned. Don’t worry if they smell a little burnt, they’ll be fine.
-
Slowly add the stock in small amounts, stirring as you go. Keep the pot at a low simmer. When the couscous is cooked and the stock has evaporated, turn off the heat.
-
Add white pepper to taste.
-
Grate in parmesan and throw in a few cubes of cold butter. Stir to create a glossy finish.
-
Plate, garnishing with finely chopped spring onions and a drizzle of truffle oil.