Lap Cheong Carbonara

Ingredients

• Linguine (or any pasta – rigatoni, bucatini, whatever you have)
• Lap cheong (Chinese sausage), diced
• Black peppercorns
• Green peppercorns
• Szechuan peppercorns
• 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• Pecorino Romano, finely grated (a good amount)
• Lao Gan Ma chili crisp, to finish
• Reserved pasta water
• Salt

Directions

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta.
• Make the egg mix: whisk the 2 eggs and egg yolk with a good amount of grated pecorino romano until combined.
• Toast the black, green, and Szechuan peppercorns, then grind them down.
• Render the diced lap cheong in a hot pan to release its fat (it is savory with a slight sweetness). Toast the ground peppercorns in the fat quickly, then quench with a splash of pasta water.
• Add the cooked pasta and toss, toss, toss, adding pasta water as needed.
• When the sauce is mostly dry but there is still some liquid in the pan, let the pan cool for about a minute, then stir in the egg-cheese mix, stirring constantly so it thickens into a creamy sauce without scrambling. Add a little more cheese to thicken.
• Finish with a spoonful of Lao Gan Ma chili crisp and a little more cheese. Serve.

A Chinese-Italian twist on carbonara: crispy lap cheong, a three-pepper blend, and a finish of chili crisp. Method transcribed from the video. From Marcus O'Laoire on Instagram.