Bak Kwa

Bak kwa making session at FH's

Bak kwa or 肉干 (rou gan) is a very popular snack in Singapore, Malaysia, China and Taiwan. It is a Chinese salty-sweet dried meat product similar to jerky, made in the form of flat thin sheets. It is normally made from minced pork or sliced pork (the premium variety).

FH kindly organised a bak kwa making session for those who were interested. Using her mum's recipe, she made a batch for some students during Chinese New Year and they loved it. With her kind permission, I am sharing this recipe with you.

1kg of fairly fatty minced pork
2 Tbsp Soya sauce
1.5 Tbsp fish sauce
250g sugar
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 Tbsp water
1/1 tsp white pepper
Pinch of five spice powder
1/2 Tbsp cooking wine
1/2 tsp sesame oil

Baste
3 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp water

Marinate minced pork with all other ingredients, preferably overnight.

Take out a portion of marinated meat and using the back of a large spoon, flatten the meat evenly and thinly onto a baking tray (without baking paper). Be careful to ensure that it is thin and compact, leaving no gaps in between. Use cling wrap or plastic gloves to gently tap and press the meat to ensure it is compacted. Bake for 20 minutes at 150C.

Remove from oven and use a blunt knife or flat turner (be careful not to leave scratch marks on your metal baking tray) to cut the baked meat into 4-8 slices. Flip the meat slices and place them onto the tray and back into the oven for another 20 minutes. You can make 2 to 3 trays of meat and bake them in the oven altogether. After 20 minutes remove the tray(s) from the oven.

At this point you may cool the meat slices and freeze them for future use. You may also grill the slices on the BBQ or follow the steps below to grill them in the oven. Either way you need to baste the slices.

Transfer the meat slices onto another clean baking tray lined with baking paper. Baste the meat slices with the honey and water mixture. Turn the oven setting to "grill" mode and place the tray on the top shelf. Carefully watch the slices grill as you want to achieve some charred edges while the meat turns a dark brown, almost reddish-brown, colour. When you are happy with the colour, turn the slices over, baste and place the tray of meat slices back into the oven until this side is also reddish-brown. Remove the slices and allow cool it on a rack.

My maiden attempt at bak kwa. The underside was quite burnt :p

My first attempt failed a little as I was distracted by the TV and failed to watch the grilling process carefully. They turned out more charred than I wanted them to be.

Eating this bak kwa 2 days later seemed to increase the taste :p On my next attempt I might try adding some liquorice powder (available at Asian grocery stores) to the marinade. Some recipes I have found online include this.

There are a few ways to eat this:
1. Eat it on its own (yum!!)
2. Cut into small thin slices and use it as a garnish on fried rice or fried noodles
3. Place a piece in between 2 slices of bread and eat it as a snack or for breakfast.

Are you salivating yet?