Chinese sausage is a hard, smoked, and dried sausage. It tastes slightly sweet. Quang Tran is very clean and rather sterile on the inside. As you can see on the window, they offer three kinds of lap xuong - heo (pork), ga (chicken), and gan (liver). The liver is a bit too strong for my taste, but the pork and chicken (It's really a pork and chicken mix.) are very tasty.
You get eight very large pieces of sausage. A 1-lb package costs $6.50. Yes, it's a little pricier than what you can get at the Asian grocery stores, but you can taste the difference in quality. While I sometimes have to boil other sausages to reconstitute them, I never have to with this brand. This is freshly made Chinese sausage, not the rather wrinkly kind at the store. Less fatty too.
My aunts and uncles give these to me as gifts for Tet (Vietnamese lunar new year) last year and this year. I like to eat them sliced them up and lightly pan-fried (sans oil since there's plenty of fat already) with a few dashes of Maggi Seasoning Sauce.
Also, in the same strip mall, if you're so inclined, look for people selling tropical fruit out of the back of a van. On a recent visit, I saw whole and peeled jackfruit, mangosteens, longans, mangoes, and cherimoya. I only had $2 in cash or else I would have snatched some up. They were doing pretty brisk business.
Some recipes with Chinese sausage:
Bo Bia (Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Chinese Sausage, Dried Shrimp, and Jicama)
Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage, Mixed Frozen Vegetables, and Eggs
Shanghai-style Sticky Rice Siu Mai Dumplings
Quang Tran, Inc.
9000 E. Garvey Ave. #A
Rosemead, CA 91770
626-569-9427
*****
626-569-9427
1 year ago today, Oc Buou Luoc Xa Voi Mam Gung (Vietnamese Boiled Apple Snails with Ginger Fish Sauce).
I never paid much attention to lap xuong - just bought them on rare occasions at the Asian markets. These look positively succulent. Did they have any with xa? My mom's friend in France served some juicy ones with the most fabulous xa flavor.
ReplyDeleteI buy it here too! So much better than the supermarket variety. I also like buying the tofu dessert as well as sua dau nan, but my mom complains that their prices keep going up. Not very surprising to me though.
ReplyDeleteWow, they look incredible. I've never seen that quality in Australia but I will definitely be looking for it. I adore lap xuong but the Bread Winner doesn't. Perhaps I could convert him if I found a better quality.
ReplyDeleteNikki,
ReplyDeleteNo they don't. I wish they had some sausage with lemongrass. I bet the ones you ate were awesome!
Jeannie,
Prices of everything have one up! :(
Dani,
I wasn't a big fan either until I ate these. The freshness makes a big difference.
What a coincident that our friends from Texas was over for the week and we were driving around looking for this particular Chinese sausage which not distributed anywhere and only sold at this location. So I bought the ga and heo to try out.
ReplyDeleteLovely! Chinese sausages goes really well with white rice. I like it stir fry with leek as well.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I grew up with lap xuong. It's the perfect last minute back up meat for all types of meals!
ReplyDeleteYen say's she fried some up for lunch today. She says that she's trying to cut back because of all the fat. Everyone calls her Mrs. Chubby "beo". They're so mean!
Tropical fruit out of the back of a van? I need to shop where you do more often;)
ReplyDeleteBill,
ReplyDeleteMmm. It's the best. You can't get this stuff in Texas.
PP,
Sometimes it's the simple food combos that I love the best.
WoRC,
They are mean. Tell Yen not to feel bad. I'm more than beo, I'm map. :(
Marvin,
Haha. Well, now you can. :)