Chinese sausage is a generic term referring to the many different types of

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs, may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

s with ties to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, the

Sinosphere The Sinosphere, also known as the Chinese cultural sphere, East Asian cultural sphere, or the Sinic world, encompasses multiple countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia that were historically heavily influenced by Chinese culture. The Sinosph ...

or the

Chinese diaspora Overseas Chinese people are people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 million people livin ...

Varieties

There is a choice of fatty or lean sausages. There are different kinds ranging from those made using fresh pork to those made using pig livers, duck livers and even turkey livers. Usually a sausage made with liver will be darker in color 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 Dim sum () is a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch. Most modern dim sum dishes are commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine, although dim sum dishes also exist in other Chinese cu ...

* ''Lap cheong'' (Cantonese, or zh, p=làcháng, t=臘腸, s=腊肠, cy=laahp chéung, j=laap6 coeng2) (lit."preserved sausage") is a dried, hard

usually made from

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

and pork fat. It is normally smoked, sweetened, and seasoned with

rose water Rose water, or rosewater, is a flavoured water created by steeping rose petals in water. It is typically made as a by-product during the distillation of rose petals to create rose oil for perfumes. Rose water is widely utilized to flavour cu ...

rice wine Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermentation, fermented from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia, where rice is a quintessential staple crop. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch, during wh ...

and

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

. * ''Yun chang'' ( zh, t=膶腸, s=膶肠, p=rùn cháng, cy=yéun chéung, j=jeon2 coeng2) (lit."liver sausage") is made using

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

liver. * ''Xiang chang'' ( zh, t=香腸, s=香肠, p=xiāng cháng, cy=hēung chéung, j=hoeng1 coeng2) (lit."aromatic sausage") is a fresh and plump sausage consisting of coarsely chopped pieces of pork and un-rendered pork fat. The sausage is rather sweet in taste. * ''Nuomi chang'' ( zh, t=糯米腸, s=糯米肠, p=nuòmǐ cháng, cy=noh máih chéung, j=no6 mai5 coeng2) (lit."glutinous rice sausage") is a white-colored sausage consisting of

glutinous rice Domestication syndrome refers to two sets of phenotypic traits that are common to either domesticated plants or domesticated animals. Domesticated animals tend to be smaller and less aggressive than their wild counterparts; they may also hav ...

and flavoring stuffed into a casing and then steamed or boiled until cooked. The ''nuomi chang'' of some Chinese cultures have blood as a binding agent similar to Korean ''sundae''. * ''Xue chang'' ( zh, t=血腸, s=血肠, p=xuě cháng, cy=hyut chéung, j=hyut3 coeng2) (lit."blood sausage") are Chinese sausages that have blood as the primary ingredient. * ''Bairouxue chang'' ( zh, t=白肉血腸, s=白肉血肠, p=báiròuxuě cháng, cy=baahk yuhk hyut chéung, j=baak6 juk6 hyut3 coeng2) (lit."white meat blood sausage") is a type of sausage popular in

northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...

that includes chopped meat in the blood mixture. * ''Guan chang'' ( zh, t=贯肠) (lit."through sausage") is a long, red sausage made of fresh meat.

Regional

The southern flavor of Chinese sausage is commonly known by its

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

name (or , zh, t=臘腸, s=腊肠, p=làcháng, cy=laahp chéung, j= laap6 coeng2). Chinese sausage is used as an ingredient in a number of dishes in the southern Chinese provinces of

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

, and

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

, and also

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Sichuan sausage contains and is flavored by red chili powder, Sichuan pepper powder, and Pixian bean sauce. Two common examples of such dishes include

fried rice Fried rice is a dish of cooked rice that has been stir-fried in a wok or a frying pan and is usually mixed with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, seafood, or meat. It is often eaten by itself or as an accompaniment to another dis ...

and ''

lo mai gai Lo mai gai (), literally "glutinous rice chicken", is a classic dim sum dish served during yum cha.Hsiung, Deh-Ta. Simonds, Nina. Lowe, Jason. 005(2005). The food of China: a journey for food lovers. Bay Books. . p27. The portion size of ''lo ...

'' (糯米雞). The traditional unpackaged forms are usually found in

street market A street market or open-air market, with alternative names such as: market square and sometimes charity market, in cases where the sale is made for charity reasons, is a market that is set up on certain days of the week, generally on the street i ...

s or wet markets. Smoked Chinese sausage

, especially

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

's largest city

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

, Harbin-style sausage ( zh, s=红肠, t=紅腸, p=hóngcháng, first=t), a popular regional specialty, is a coarsely ground, smoked savory red sausage similar to Polish "country"

kielbasa Kielbasa (, ; from Polish ) is any type of meat sausage from Poland and a staple of Polish cuisine. In American English, it is typically a coarse, U-shaped smoked sausage of any kind of meat, which closely resembles the ''Wiejska'' ''sausage'' ...

and Lithuanian

skilandis Skilandis or Kindziukas is a Lithuanian matured sausage made of meat, fat, salt, pepper and garlic. The ground meat is traditionally pressed into a pig's stomach or bladder, but today may be contained in other skins. The sausage is dried and col ...

. It was first manufactured in March 1909 by Lithuanian staff in a Russian-capitalized factory named Churin Sausage Factory, located in Harbin's Daoli District. An alternative name is Lidaosi ( zh, s=里道斯), from Russian ''kolbasa litovskaya'', "Lithuanian sausage". Harbin-style sausage subsequently became popular in China, especially in northern regions. A sweeter dried version similar to southern Chinese sausages is also produced.

In other countries

Vietnam

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

, Chinese sausage is called ' or '. It has been incorporated into a variety of dishes from simple omelets to more complex main courses. Due to the salty taste of the sausages, they are used in moderation with other ingredients to balance the flavor. The sausages are made from pork (') or chicken ('), the latter of which yields a leaner taste. '' Tung lò mò'' (

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script * Cham Albani ...

: ꨓꨭꩂ ꨤꨟꨯꨱꨥ ''tung lamaow'') is a similar sausage made from beef by the

Chams The Chams ( Cham: , چام, ''cam''), or Champa people ( Cham: , اوراڠ چمڤا, ''Urang Campa''; or ; , ), are an Austronesian ethnic group in Southeast Asia and are the original inhabitants of central Vietnam and coastal Cambodia be ...

(who are

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

) in southern Vietnam.

Myanmar

In Burmese, the sausage is called either ' (chicken sausage; ) or ' (pork sausage; ). The sausages made in Myanmar are more meaty and compact compared to those in Singapore or China. They are usually used in fried rice and along with fried vegetables, mostly cabbage.

Philippines

In the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, Chinese sausage is an ingredient in some Chinese-Filipino dishes like '' siopao bola-bola''. It is sometimes confused with and used in place of the native sausage '' Chorizo de Macao'' (which is also sometimes known as "Chinese chorizo"). The latter is not derived from the Chinese sausage, but derives its name from the use of

star anise ''Illicium verum'' (star anise or badian, Chinese star anise, star anise seed, star aniseed and star of anise) is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to South China and northeast Vietnam. Its star-shaped pericarps harvested just before ripen ...

, which is associated with Chinese cuisine in the Philippines.

Taiwan

also produces a similar form of sausage; however, they are rarely dried in the manner of Cantonese sausages. The fat and meat may be emulsified, and a larger amount of sugar may be used, yielding a sweeter taste. These sausages are usually produced by local

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale ...

s and sold at markets or made at home. This variant of Chinese sausage is known as ' () in Mandarin Chinese, literally meaning fragrant sausage.

Singapore

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

produces innovative Chinese sausages that could be considered healthier than the traditional variety. Examples include low-fat, low-sodium, and high-fibre Chinese sausages.

Thailand

In Thai, Chinese sausage is called ' () after its name in the

Teochew dialect Teochew, also known as Swatow or Teo-Swa, is a Southern Min language spoken by the Teochew people in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong and by their diaspora around the world. It is sometimes referred to as ''Chiuchow'', its Cantonese ...

(贯肠, ' in Teochew), the dominant Chinese language within the

Thai Chinese Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais) are persons of Chinese people, Chinese descent in Thailand. Thai Chinese are the largest mixed group in the country and the largest overseas Chinese community in the world with a popul ...

community. It is used in several Chinese dishes by the sizeable Thai Chinese community, and also in some Thai dishes such as ', a Thai salad made with this sausage. There is also Chinese sausage made with snakehead fish ('; ).

Suriname

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

, Chinese sausage is referred to by a

Hakka Chinese Hakka ( zh, c=, p=Kèjiāhuà; '' Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: '', zh, c=, p=Kèjiāyǔ; '' Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: '') forms a language group of varieties of Chinese, spoken natively by the Hakka people in parts of Southern China, Taiwan, some diaspora areas ...

word (fa1cong3 花肠 'motled sausage') rendered as ''fatjong'', ''fachong'', ''fa-chong'', ''fashong'', or ''fasjong'' in colloquial spelling. It is part of the dish '' moksi meti tyawmin'' (mixed meat

chow mein ''Chow mein'' ( and , ; Cantonese Yale: ''cháaumihn'', Pinyin: ''chǎomiàn'') is a dish of Chinese stir-fried noodles with vegetables and sometimes meat or tofu. Over the centuries, variations of ''chǎomiàn'' were developed in many reg ...

Other regions

Chinese sausages are generally available in

Asian supermarket In non-Asian countries, an Asian supermarket largely describes a category of grocery stores that focuses and stocks items and products imported from countries located in the Far East (e.g. East Asia, East, Southeast Asia, Southeast and South Asia ...

s outside Asia, mostly in a vacuum-packaged form, although some Chinese groceries sell the unpackaged varieties as well. These tend to be made domestically due to prohibitions on import of meat products from overseas. For example, many of the Chinese sausages sold in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

are produced by a number of manufacturers based in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. ''Lap cheong'' is also a very popular sausage in Hawaii due to large numbers of Chinese in Hawaii who have incorporated it into local cuisine.

References

{{Sausage Fermented sausages * Hong Kong cuisine Malaysian cuisine Singaporean cuisine Taiwanese sausages Burmese cuisine Filipino cuisine Thai cuisine Vietnamese cuisine Smoked meat