hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re kicking off a BRAND new series, and diving into the wonderful, weird, and surprisingly delicious world of pan-asian fusion cuisine. More specifically, today we’re taking a crack at a recipe inspired one sent to me by reddit user u/Juno_Malone for an Italian Pasta Carbonara that most prominently strays from its traditional carbonara origins with its inclusion of a Chinese pork “lap cheong” sausage. For those unfamiliar, a traditional carbonara makes use of guanciale “pork cheek” (or here in the states, usually pancetta or bacon) that has had its fat rendered into liquid form, and is then combined with spaghetti and an egg and parmesan slurry for a simple but delicious creamy pasta. 

Today we’ll be omitting that guanciale in favor of a Chinese “lap cheong” sausage, then incorporating two of my very favorite forms of subtle heat, a bit of dried toasted Tian Jin peppers, and a healthy serving of lao gan ma chile crisp oil. Hope you try it.

Bookmark the recipe here (out August 27th!), bookmark the stream here, and pick up the ingredients below if you want to follow along and cook dinner with me.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

• 8oz (about 4 links) lap cheong sausage

• 16oz bronze die cut spaghetti

• 4oz parmesan cheese

• 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

• 2 tbsp lao gan ma

• 6-8 dried Tian Jin peppers

• kosher salt

• peanut oil