People are deeply passionate about carbonara. So before I start, I think it’d be wise to preface this by saying that this is *not* an authentic carbonara. It’s not. It’s a version that takes the core tenets of the web’s favorite Italian pasta, and works in two of my favorite Asian ingredients — salted egg, and lap cheong (腊肠, also known as cured Chinese sausage)!
The reason for this is twofold. First off, I really like the savory umami of salted eggs. In Chinese cooking, we use salted eggs as an easy flavor-booster in stir-fried vegetables and rice dishes, congee, and even worked in a coating for deep-fried meats and seafood. So naturally I thought it’d instantly gel in a carbonara, and add a touch more umami depth to it.
Next, the reason for the lap cheong is accessibility. It’s pretty hard to get good guanciale at an affordable price throughout Asia, so I went with something a bit more common here, which is lap cheong or cured Chinese sausage. These taste super porky with streaks of fat marbled in. So I just cut them up into pieces and sauteed them until crispy. Yes I could’ve just gone with bacon, but you’ll see that lap cheong adds a different dimension to the dish!
So I fried up the lap cheong until they turned crispy and the fat renders out, and mashed up the salted egg yolks. The rest of the carbonara comes together just like how you would expect — boil the pasta, toss it in with the salted egg, regular egg, a big blizzard of pecorino, and lots of black pepper.
The result? A funky, fun version of a carbonara for those looking for an Asian slant on the classic! (And for the doubters, I’ll see you in the comment storm down below.) —Jun
See what other Food52ers are saying.