How To Make Hipster Cacio e Pepe With Lap Cheong

Well, here’s ours. Think of it as the love child of all that is good about cured, salty-sweet crispy Chinese pork and ang moh comfort grub, mixed into a rich, satisfying number that’s good for devouring on your own in front of the tele, or to serve to friends at a dinner party (it’s mod Sin, okay?). It helps that this is an easy dish to pull off since all you’re doing is frying lap cheong (you don’t even need to add oil because the sausages will release their own fat in the heat), boiling pasta, and tossing it with a helluva lot of grated cheese.

We’ve specified red pepper or ground dried chilli flakes because we like the specks of colour they bring to the dish. But feel free to use a good quality ground black pepper like Sarawak or Kampot, which will lend a subtler hint of heat with a longer finish. We’ve also used spaghettini (which is thinner than regular spaghetti) because we like that it makes for a lighter dish. Again, feel free to use whatever long strands of pasta you have on hand. As for the lap cheong, you could sub it with chopped bacon or luncheon meat — they too, will release their inherent fat in the cooking, so don’t add any oil and make sure you fry them to a crisp before adding the other ingredients.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

250g dried spaghettini

3 lap cheong (dried Chinese sausages), thinly sliced

3 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp ground red pepper like espelette or ground dried chillies

1¼ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese (preferably Parmigiano Reggiano) + more for garnish

salt, to taste

1. In a large pot of heavily salted boiling water, cook the spaghettini 3 minutes short of package instructions (the pasta will continue to cook once you add it to the skillet). Reserve a cup of the pasta cooking water and drain the rest.

2. While the pasta is cooking, place the sliced lap cheong in a large skillet and cook over medium heat till crisp, about 5 mins. No need to grease the pan — the lap cheong will release its own oils as it cooks.

3. Add the garlic and red pepper or chilli flakes and cook till fragrant, about 2 minutes.

4. Add the drained pasta and toss. Add the cheese and a bit of the pasta cooking water to moisten. Toss, allowing the cheese to coat the pasta and form a sort of creamy sauce.

5. Season the pasta to taste with salt and more pepper, if you like.

6. Transfer to two plates, shower with additional grated Parmesan and serve immediately.

Photos: Ealbert Ho