I CANNOT believe it’s 2 weeks until Thanksgiving. This year feels like it flew by, and it also felt like it lasted forever. 2020 is one for the books and that means this Thanksgiving is definitely going to be interesting. Celebrations will be different, so I thought I would take a different approach to the holiday this year. Given it’ll just be me, my mom, and dad, I wanted to reimagine what a Thanksgiving meal would like with an Asian American family like mine. That means touches of Chinese and Vietnamese flavors here and there but still keeping to the spirit of the meal. The first recipe within that theme is my Chinese sausage stuffing. All the herby and hearty flavors of a traditional stuffing with the addition of a salty lap cheong. If you’re looking for a stuffing recipe that is a little more vegetarian friendly, check out my shiitake mushroom stuffing!
Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments
- Baguette – You can use almost any kind of sturdy bread for stuffing. Good breads to use include white bread, sourdough, baguettes, whole wheat etc. Anything that can dry out and hold its form well. I chose to use baguette as an homage to my Vietnamese background.
- Chinese sausage (lap cheong) – One of my favorite ingredients of all time. Lap cheong is a salty sausage that comes from China. It is slightly hard with a salty, umami flavor.
- Unsalted butter – Adds a slight nutty flavor to the stuffing.
- Yellow onion & celery – Both add texture and flavor to the stuffing. Good substitutes for yellow onion are white onion and shallots.
- Salt & pepper for seasoning
- Parsley – Adds freshness to the stuffing.
- Thyme, sage & rosemary – These ingredients add a herby flavor to the stuffing.
- Low sodium chicken stock – The main liquid in this stuffing in addition to the egg. I like to use low sodium chicken stock because it helps me control the amount of salt used in the stuffing. You can substitute chicken stock with vegetable stock.
- Eggs – Eggs act as a binder for the stuffing.
Making my Chinese sausage stuffing
First toast your bread. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Cut the baguette into small chunks and add to a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Set aside. Increase the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F.
Next saute Chinese sausages in a large pan for 1-2 minutes until slightly brown and pour into a large mixing bowl. This will be the bowl you use to mix your stuffing. In the same pan, add 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the onions and celery and cook until soft (~2-3 minutes). Pour the onions and celery into the mixing bowl with the Chinese sausage. In the same bowl, add the salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary, and chicken stock. Mix until well incorporated. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if it tastes bland. Lastly, add in the whisked eggs and mix.
Grease a large baking dish with butter. I used a 13×8 inch oval baking dish. Spoon the stuffing into the baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 40 minutes covered. Remove the cover and bake for another 30 minutes until golden brown on top. Check to see if the top is golden brown at the end of this time period. If it isn’t brown enough for you, keep it in the oven for a few more minutes.
Tips on how to make the perfect Chinese sausage stuffing
Make sure to butter the baking dish before putting the stuffing in the oven
The butter not only helps the stuffing release from the pan, it also helps it brown on all sizes, so you get crispy, crunchy stuffing all around.
How to make this stuffing vegetarian
To make this recipe vegetarian friendly, substitute shiitake mushrooms for Chinese sausage and vegetable stock for chicken stock.
Did you make this dish?
If you made this dish, I would love to see!
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Chinese Sausage Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 baguette cut into small pieces
- 4 Chinese sausages minced
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 yellow onion minced
- 1 ¼ cup celery minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- ½ cup parsley minced
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 1 tbsp sage minced
- 1 tbsp rosemary minced
- 1 cup low sodium chicken stock
- 2 eggs whisked
Instructions
- First toast your bread. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Cut the baguette into small chunks and add to a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Set aside. Increase the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Next saute Chinese sausages in a large pan for 1-2 minutes until slightly brown and pour into a large mixing bowl. This will be the bowl you use to mix your stuffing.
- In the same pan, add 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the onions and celery and cook until soft (~2-3 minutes). Pour the onions and celery into the mixing bowl with the Chinese sausage.
- In the same bowl, add the salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary, and chicken stock. Mix until well incorporated. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if it tastes bland. Lastly, add in the whisked eggs and mix.
- Grease a large baking dish with butter. I used a 13×8 inch oval baking dish. Spoon the stuffing into the baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 40 minutes covered.
- Remove the cover and bake for another 30 minutes until golden brown on top. Check to see if the top is golden brown at the end of this time period. If it isn't brown enough for you, keep it in the oven for a few more minutes.
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by Becca Du