I started making Bak Kwa on my second year in UK. I was so desperate to eat. I remembered making it in the middle of winter. There was no sun to be seen. What to do? Needs must. ? I rolled and used the oven to bake them. Once I actually lighted the BBQ in the snow as I was too fussy. To me baked in oven just do not taste the same! I wanted that slightly burnt taste that only BBQ from charcoal can give. Thinking back I could only laugh at my greediness. Then there was a year where I taught all my Facebook friends to make bak kwa and my Facebook news page were dotted with bak kwa pics from all over UK, France and even across the pond from the US. All my friends were making bak kwa. To read more about Bak Kwa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakkwa
Fast forward some 20 years and now making it is a lot easier because I have a nice back garden space that I can use. Also practice makes perfect. Having outside water pipe to wash helps too. Nowadays I make them only in the summer. I have sorta developed the easiest way for me to do it too. I now vacuumed sealed them and freeze for those times when I feels like eating with home made bao buns.
I have made four batches of 3 kg mince each in total for this summer thus far. I have send some to friends who have not been fortunate enough to balik kampung for awhile as a treat. This is my recipe that I have developed over the years. Please use it as a guide and adjust to your taste. I find that my taste have changed from the time when I used to make with a relative every Chinese New Year to sell in Ipoh, Malaysia. Those were the days. It’s like another lifetime ago ……..
This post is more about the TIPs and way of making rather than the perfect recipe. I will give you my preferential recipe of course. Please refer to each pic for explanations and TIPs. Enjoy.
p/s I prefer mine to be tougher, fatter and chewy but the hubby prefer his softer and easier to eat but no fat – What’s your preference?
Chinese pork jerky (Yok Kon, Long Yok, Bak Kua)
Ingredients
- Mince pork of 3 kg
- 2 cups Caster sugar
- 1 tbsp Five spice powder
- 1 cup Rose Wine
- ¼ cup Fish Sauce
- ½ cup Soy sauce
Instructions
- Marinate overnight in fridge after mixing well (MUST) is the best
- Roll out patiently and making sure it’s as even as you can manage.
- Dried in the sun to the point where it is just firm enough to peel and handle without breaking. Over drying means tough bak kwa
- Best to BBQ
- Wait for it to cool completely before packing.
- Can be kept frozen in your freezer. To eat just let it defrost in your fridge and eat the next day.
Hi how long do u leave it under the sun for?
Hey Nana, Usually as long as they dry to stick together. Hard to say. Depends on strength of sun. In UK that’s a lottery in itself. However you need to leave it till you can lift them up without them breaking but not too dry or your jerky will be tough kekekeke
Thanks for that. So is it ok if the top is still a bit mushy, but the bottom can be peeled away? also, have you tried using a dehydrator?
Nana that is correct. No I have not tired a dehydrator. 20 odd years ago when I first came to UK first year I was so desperate I use the oven in winter, on the grill and as soon as stick together enough to slice I took them out, slice and stacked first before fully grilled but taste was not satisfying to me. Missing that charcoal fire smokey taste.
That time I used grease proofed paper. Now i bribed my postman to give me a few post bags after drowning him with loves of cookies and cakes 😛
Amazing story, lacks depth, lacks flavour, lacks context, author didn’t use enough full stops. Honestly. The recipe. could have been bombs. if it weren’t for the low amount of full stops used. I wish there were more full stops. If we take a closer look at the word full stop, it is a full stop. A Full stop. Full- to have completeness, Stop- to halt; to put an end. If we put the 2 together, we get a complete halt. We are putting a sentence to an end. And thats the beauty of a full stop. Because without full stops in life, how are we going to ever restart and rethink about the things we do in life if all we use are commas and parentheses. Commas are just continuation, full stops are full stops. Lets stop the sentence using a full stop. Lets put an end to sentences using full stops. Lets start to know the difference between a full stop and a half stop. There is a time for full stops and there is a time for half stops. We are often taught to stop when we need to stop. When we stop, we have to stop fully. not half. Therefore, stopping is a gift given by God. And we need to put respect on the name of God. Which is why we use capital letters for God. Notice how i put a full stop at the end of that sentence? Yeah! You got this Julie, or should i say you GOD this Julie! Never stop using full stops.