Egg Fried Rice with Lap Cheong 腊肠 (Chinese Sausage)

We invented this dish when we were introduced to Lap Cheong aka Chinese sausage by our friends. Chinese sausage is so delicious, so sweet, meaty and juicy...we fell in love with it. Stir-fried rice is quite famous with everyone and is very easy to prepare and indeed, since this dish is a stir-fried rice based dish it is quite easy to prepare. It always makes me laugh whenever I cook this dish as I'll be like, so, some of this some of that and voilà...dinner is served!! I must admit that I could eat as much as I can of this dish and I do find it hard to stop! We prefer to use Basmati or Jasmine rice instead of plain rice as it is more fragrant and adds further flavour to the dish. Also the secret to perfect fried rice is to cook the fried rice into batches. I cook ours in two batches. Use a bowl to measure the amount. We usually do a bowl of cooked rice per person. To serve this dish as main course for 2-4 people you will need...

• 250g uncooked rice (we use Basmati or Jasmine but plain rice will do)
• 500ml boiling water
• 4 Lap Cheong (Chinese sausages)
• Half a leek or 2 spring onions, cleaned and cut into Julienne strips
• 2 small carrots, cut into Julienne strips
• Handful of frozen peas, defrosted
• Handful canned sweetcorn
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
• Oyster sauce, to taste
• Dark soy sauce, to taste
• Sesame oil, to taste

How to...

1. Cook the rice either in a rice steamer or on the hob. To cook the perfect rice on the hob, add the rice to a medium sized heavy based pan and add the boiling water. Stir with a fork and bring to a boil. When it boils, lower the heat to low and simmer covered for 10-12 minutes. Do not open the lid. This is called the absorption method. When rice is cooked, wash with cold water, drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, steam the sausages for 20 minutes, slice into bite size pieces and set aside. Do not throw away the boiling water used to steam the sausages. Add the leeks and carrots to the boiling water from underneath the sausages and blanch for about 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. Prepare the egg omelettes. Beat one egg and pour it in a hot small non stick frying pan (we use a 6-7 inch pan), turning gently so as to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook for a few minutes and turn over to cook the other side. Remove from the pan, roll into a roll and cut into strips. Repeat with the other egg.  You can do them both in one go if you have a larger pan obviously. 
4. Heat  2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan until hot. Add 2 sausages (cut into pieces), half of the blanched veg and stir well. Add a bowl of cooked rice, keep stirring frequently or else the rice will stick. Cook for about 3-5 minutes. Add the peas, half a teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder, soy sauce and sesame oil to taste and stir well.Cook for a further 3 minutes. Now add the egg omelette strips, give it one last stir and serve hot maybe with some more soy sauce or sesame oil.
5. Repeat until you use all the rice and ingredients.

Enjoy!!

R&A