For the cocktail party we attended last weekend, I made the deviled crab Rangoon and my husband made mini pigs in blanket. He used cocktail pups (a nitrite free mini sausage) and crescent roll dough from Trader Joe’s. I mentioned it on Facebook and a bunch of friends revealed their longing for the little guilty pleasures. Needless to say, so did the guests at the party, who ate them all up just as fast as the deviled Sriracha crab Rangoon.
We had a leftover package of crescent roll dough and I thought of wrapping the dough around cut pieces of dried Chinese lop cheung sausage for an Asian rendition. It’s not very farfetched because Cantonese bakeries sometimes have hotdogs baked in a pillowy pastry much like that of baked bao dough.
I tried it out as a quick nibble along with champagne. The little Chinese pigs in blanket were savory-sweet, a bit fatty, and just delightful.
Never tried lop cheung before? Make it a New Year’s resolution. Bon Appetit magazine picked the Chinese staple as one of the trending foods for 2012. Lop cheung (lap xuong in Vietnamese) is sold at Chinese and Southeast Asian markets. Out of the package, Chinese sausages look like these:
Recipe
Chinese Pigs in Blanket
Chinese sausages are intensely flavored so I cut each link into short lengths and halved each lengthwise. When I kept the link as a round, the result was way too large and awkward to eat as a cocktail morsel. If you opt to keep the sausage as rounds, cut the triangles in half so there’s enough dough to cover the pieces well; you’ll yield 16. There is no need to precook them as they'll cook in the oven.
Makes 24 cocktail snacks to serve 6 to 8
4 Chinese dried sausages (lop cheung)
An 8-ounce package of refrigerated crescent rolls, such as Trader Joe's or Pillsbury
All-purpose flour, for dusting
1 medium or large egg, beaten well
1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cut each sausage crosswise into 3 equal lengths. Then halve each short section lengthwise. You’ll have 24 pieces total. Set aside.
3. Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Open the package of rolls and unroll the dough onto your work surface. Cut along the perforated edge to separate each triangle. Then cut each triangle into 3 smaller ones. They do not have to be equal because the dough is very forgiving. Here’s what I did:
4. For each one, simply roll up the sausage in a piece of dough. Put the sausage at the wider end, press it gently down to secure, the roll it up to encase; stretch the dough a bit, if you have to. Place on the baking sheet and repeat to use up all the sausage and dough.
Brush with a bit of egg for shine and deep color. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before serving. These are good hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Aside from lop cheung, my thought is that longaniza may be good as a Filipino pigs in blanket. Thoughts?
Thien-Kim says
Now I'm craving lap xuong!
Lori says
You are brilliant! :O) I am definitely making these for my next party.
Andrea Nguyen says
Go for it! These things are simple, fun, and tasty.
Laura says
These look incredible, Andrea! While I absolutely love Chinese sausage, I'm always worried about all of the fat. Yours don't look greasy at all! Maybe I'll have to try them over the holidays...
David says
So you know most of the so called nitrite free sausages have been cured in celery juice which just happens to be chock full of nitrites. Of course all green veggies have lots of nitrites. You can check out Ruhlmans rant about it here
http://ruhlman.com/2011/05/the-no-nitrites-added-hoax/
BTW I love your site..
Andrea Nguyen says
Laura - you can get lean-ish Chinese sausage made with pork and chicken. However, I go for the all pork ones and eat just a few...
David -- you are absolutely right. Celery juice is used by lots of current sausage makers as a workaround regular nitrite. A little nitrite is not going to hurt. Just like a bit of celery won't harm you either. But eat too much of anything (celery contains arsenic, I believe), and you'll do yourself harm. Michael knows his charcuterie so he's right on to rant about the falsehoods of celery juice. Thanks for weighing in!
Michelle says
Oh man, Filipino longanisa would be delish in these! Love this Asian take on the pig in a blanket!
Graham S says
Called Sausage Rolls in the real world.
Great idea though.
Now if i could only cook some PHO properly!!
Bernie says
I had the same thought: Longanisa bigs in a blanket would be great...I am picking some up on the way to visit a few Filipina friends and will make this for them.
Mr. Cooking Grill says
wow amazing! yummy to look at 🙂
marlon says
I'm always worried about all of the fat. Yours don't look greasy at all! Maybe I'll have to try them over the holidays.
marlon says
I know that this Chinese Pigs in Blanket Recipe really taste good! i want to taste that one!
Nickle says
Yum2! good for my dinner tonight 🙂