Pork jerky (bak kwa) in the house!! Can't resist...snapped a few photos for remembrance each time I made it! Hehe...Can't really find this here in Adelaide unless homemade. Sometimes, in order to satisfy craving but home is far away, the only way to go about it is to learn it!! However, I don't made this often. Just occasionally to satisfy my family.
Thanks to the social media, I remember seeing someone posted a video on youtube on how to make pork jerky. Seems not hard but I took a long while to consider attempting to make it myself. Normally, I won't explore/experiment a new recipe when I was rushing as high chances of disastrous outcome...And I won't attempt sophisticated baking when my hubby is around. He just couldn't stand a "messy" kitchen... :(
I have few recipes in hand about bak kwa but I have tested only 2 of the recipes. My friend recommended the recipe from a blog ie. http://nasilemaklover.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/homemade-chinese-pork-jerky-bak-kwa.html. I can testify that it is delicious!!
My children, you can make this for mummy next time, okay! No excuse not knowing how to make it. But for now, mummy would make it. An occasion treat to you. :)
Here's how the recipe goes:-
900g pork mince (perferable mixture of fat and lean pork mince)
200g sugar
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Shao Xing）
2 tsp fish sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp cooking caramel / caramelized dark sauce
0.25 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1.5 tsp salt
3.5 to 4 tbsp honey
2 or 3 dashes of white pepper
0.5 tsp garlic powder (Optional)
{And Some honey water (for brushing over the pork jerky when it is almost cooked)}
**Note: I made about 19-20 piece with 900g pork mince. Trust me, this is not a lot. Finishes very fast.
Method:-
(1) Put all the above ingredients (except the honey water) in a large mixing bowl. Use a pair of chopsticks to mix and stir the pork mince with the marinate ingredients in one direction until well blend and the mince turns gooey in texture. OR
(1a) Alternatively, you can put the said ingredients (except the honey water) into a breadmaker and use 1x dough function to help you with the mixing and stirring of pork mince until it turns gooey paste. (Note: We just need the dough function to help us in mixing and stirring. We do not need to wait for proofing. Hence, once the breadmaker stop mixing and stirring, just press stop and remove the pork mince paste for the next step.)(Note: I am using Tesco brand breadmaker. It took around 20 minutes before it stop mixing and stirring.)
(The look of my breadmaker helping me with the mixing and stirring the pork mince with all other marinate ingredients.)
(The gooey pork mince paste/texture means the correct texture required for the pork jerky.)
(2) Place the gooey pork mince paste in the large bowl, then use a cling wrap to wrap over it. Now, place it in the fridge and let it marinate for about 6 hours or overnight. (Note: I normally marinated overnight.)
(3) To assemble the pork jerky before baking....
- Place a baking paper on the baking tray and brush /spray some cooking oil on the baking paper to prevent sticking on the paper during baking.
- Scoop 2 scoops of the gooey pork mince and place it in the middle of the greased baking paper. (Note: I normally use a rice scooper to help me with this.)
- Now, use a cling wrap to place on top of the pork mince and start spreading the gooey paste (with either your finger, the back of a spoon or a rolling pin) evenly until the desired thickness before putting them into oven. (Note: REMEMBER to remove the cling wrap before baking!!)
**I prefer the thickness of closed to 0.2cm thick for pork jerky. Personally, I prefer not too thin because it doesn't look nice / too right somehow...
The look of spreading the pork mince paste on the greased baking paper on a baking tray with the help of cling wrap! Once evenly spreaded the mince paste, remove the cling wrap(s) before baking.
(4) The baking part...
- Preheat oven. Use top & bottom fan. Bake at 160 degree C for about 20 minutes
- Remove from oven, cut into desired shape, and return the pork jerky into oven.
- Bake further at 230 degree C for another 15 min to allow the pork jerky to look better in terms of the colour. (Note: Temperature mentioned here is just a guide. It sometimes depends on individual oven. If you are not sure, check your pork jerky at 10 min time or slightly earlier to prevent overcooked or burnt.)
- Remove from oven again. Pre-prepare some honey water (ie. about 1 tsp honey dissolved in about 3 tbsp water). Brush some honey water on the pork jerky and return to oven for about 1-2 min each time. Repeat this 2 times each side.
- You can bake slightly longer if the pork jerky weren't evenly brown or red enough.(Note: Just bake it until the desirable brown or red.)
(The look of my pork jerky / bak kwa - just done!)
My kids can't wait to have a taste of it even before they were ready...The nice aroma from the oven makes them drooling!
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