Hawaii Lupcheong Rice
Quick meals for a busy schedule is a way of life that needs a working meal which means convenience. A dish that was made to be quick and apart of a day-to-day life for many was having the treat of Lupcheong rice. The lupchoeng sausage is often found hanging or prepacked for those on the go and when its cooked its equally as convenient as buying it from the grocer.
Different areas have different variations of this dish, but in this case we will stick to the usual version. Making this dish was not thought of as anything regional, but as a way to extend the flavor of the sausage. In modern day its origins of China Town area has made some refer to it as "Honolulu-style Lupcheong Rice". Setting the cooker for make rice is most of the process. The thing which makes it special is throwing in lupcheong before the steaming. And if people wanted to make it even better they would throw in dried mushrooms and bamboo. |
Lupchoeng Rice in Hawaii
Growing up with rice as a staple has been the norm for many families and so has dried ingredients. In the olden days of china town and areas which received dried products from outside of china town would have to make use of dried goods or preserved goods. A particular product in this case was lup cheong sausage that could easily be thrown in steamed rice on the stove and these days the rice cooker. It was a simple way to eat delicious rice that could be cooked in a just as simple manner. |
Food Characteristics
Hawaii Lup Cheong Rice has an appearance of being shiny to the point of glistening. It uses Medium Grain rice for absorbing the fats that are extruding from the pork fats to flavor the rice grains. There is actually so much fat in the sausage that it isn't uncommon to throw in a vegetable mix to absorb some of the flavor as well. What happens is when the process of steaming concentrates on extracting flavor from the ingredients in the pot. As it evaporates the smell of Lup Cheong fills the air. |
Hawaii Pantry Convenience
Cooking can take a lot of time with the prepping and the cooking process. When a long day of work out from the fields ends there is more work to do in the kitchen, but what about what secret ingredients remain in the Hawaiian style pantry? Flavor always comes with fats and oils, so Lup Cheong sausage as most sausages would be a natural choice in flavoring a set-and-forget item like steamed rice. A tasty dish that can be done quickly, Lupcheong rice. |