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Fermentation Atlas

Meat from Southern China

Lap cheong (Cantonese sausage)臘腸

Boundary entry, mainly cured and dried. Strips of lean pork and fat are mixed with sugar, salt, soy sauce and Chinese liquor, stuffed into pig casing and dried in air for 4–7 days or in ovens at about 50 °C. Microbes ripen it a little, but no starter is added and it is cooked before eating. Made in 5 steps over 4 days – 7 days. The longest step, dry in air or ovens, takes 4–7 days (Mao J. et al. 2024) and runs at 50 °C (Chen X. et al. 2024). Staphylococci and micrococci does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step4–7 daysReported[mao2024]Dry in air or ovens
Temperature50 °CReported[chen2024]Dry in air or ovens
Fully documentedMeat4 days – 7 daysMore meatMore from ChinaMore from Taiwan

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceProportions as given in a 2024 review of Chinese fermented meats; salt and soy amounts are not stated.
8:2 or 7:3Lean pork to pork fat, cut into strips about 2 cm[mao2024]
10 %Sugar[mao2024]
2 %White liquor (baijiu)[mao2024]
Salt, soy sauce, ginger, white pepper · In one producer's Cantonese formulation[cai2025]
Natural pig casing[mao2024]
Starternone (spontaneous ripening flora; no starter is added)

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 days – 7 days

Start
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What changes: Lean pork and fat are cut into strips

Step 1 of 5
Cut pork and fat into strips
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: lean and fat strips.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Lap cheong gets its sweetness and alcoholic aroma from about 10 % sugar and Chinese liquor, and Cantonese makers dry it fast in warm ovens, while Sichuan sausage is spiced with chilli and Sichuan pepper and air-dried at room temperature.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Sichuan la changChilli and Sichuan pepper; air-dried at room temperature.
  • Five-spice sausageFennel, Sichuan pepper, star anise, cinnamon and cloves.
  • Taiwanese xiangchangSweeter and usually sold fresh rather than dried (Wikipedia).

Safety

Lap cheong is cured and dried, not acid-fermented, and is cooked before eating. A 2024 review notes that traditional Cantonese sausages, made without starters, can let unwanted microbes grow, and that starter cultures can help limit pathogens and biogenic amines.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Chinese sausage making is described in the 6th-century Qimin Yaoshu (Wikipedia, outline). Cantonese sausage is a speciality of Guangdong, valued for its sweetness.

  1. [mao2024] Mao J. et al. 2024, The contribution of microorganisms to the quality and flavor formation of Chinese traditional fermented meat and fish products, Foods 13(4):608 (section 2.5 Cantonese sausage)paper
  2. [chen2024] Chen X. et al. 2024, Aroma characterization of Sichuan and Cantonese sausages using electronic nose, GC–MS, GC-O, odor activity values and metagenomic, Food Chemistry X 24:101924paper
  3. [cai2025] Cai X. et al. 2025, Characterization of the quality and flavor in Chinese sausage, comparison between Cantonese, five-spice, and mala sausages, Foods 14(11):1982paper
  4. [s1] Wikipedia, Chinese sausage (outline only)wiki