Lap Cheong Corn Dog

An excerpt from my cookbook, First Generation — It starts with a love of Costco corn dogs, a daily ritual of microwaving and savoring their salty sweetness with a dab of ketchup after school. It’s paired with a craving for distinctly sweet Chinese sausages, always the best surprise at the center of a zongzi (glutinous sticky rice stuffed with a meat filling) or in a spoonful of fried rice. It’s a tale of two ingredients from different worlds, yet a dream pairing of cornbread batter and Chinese sausage—destined to be together in the mind of a young Asian American kid from suburban Ohio.
At a glance
Yield
8-10 corn dogsTime
1 hourIngredients
14-ounce package lap cheong Chinese sausages
1 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cups sweet glutinous rice flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1⁄2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 eggs
2⁄3 cup unsweetened almond milk
1⁄4 cup maple syrup
Vegetable oil or canola oil for frying
Preparation
Prep sausages
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a steamer, steam the lap cheong for 15 minutes (or cook according to package instructions). Once the sausages are cooked through, rinse them in cold water to cool down and pat dry. Skewer each sausage with a wooden skewer, starting from the bottom and pushing through until it reaches three-quarters of the way up.
Make batter
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl combine the cornmeal, sweet glutinous rice flour, baking powder, kosher salt, yogurt, eggs, almond milk, maple syrup and whisk until combined. Pour the corn dog batter into a skinny glass that's taller than the sausage.
Fry corn dogs
Cover a tray with paper towels. Pour the vegetable oil into a large pot to a depth of 4 inches and warm over medium high heat until the oil reaches 350°F. (Use a deep-fry thermometer to check the temperature. If you don’t have a thermometer, use a chopstick: the oil is ready when a light simmering of bubbles rises to the top when you dip the chopstick into the oil. If the bubbles are aggressive like a Jacuzzi jet, turn the heat down to reduce the temperature.)
Once the oil has reached frying temperature, dunk a sausage straight into the glass of batter, submerging it completely. Give it a spin in the batter to coat evenly, then pull it back up.
Very carefully place the corn dog into the oil and fry until the batter has become a light golden brown, turning with tongs as needed to brown evenly, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the corn dog from the oil and place onto paper towels to cool. Repeat with the remaining skewered sausages. Serve immediately with sauces of choice!
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14-ounce package lap cheong Chinese sausages
1 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cups sweet glutinous rice flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1⁄2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 eggs
2⁄3 cup unsweetened almond milk
1⁄4 cup maple syrup
Vegetable oil or canola oil for frying
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