Chinese Sausage

There are three varieties of Chinese sausage: pork, duck or pork liver, and beef. The sausages are usually hung together in links and are rather small and hard. Although they have been cured, they need to be cooked quickly before they are eaten. Steamed with rice, their juices flavor the rice. In stuffings (see Whole Stuffed Chicken Skin, and Eight-Jewel Duck) they are delicious. Unlike most sausages, these are sweet and mild. They are delicious just stir-fried with vegetables like bok choy. Although you can keep them for a week at room temperature, they should be refrigerated if kept longer. They last many months well wrapped in the freezer. You can find them in Chinese markets; they come loose but are sometimes found wrapped in cellophane.