Chinese Pork Jerky (Bak Kwa)
Chinese Pork Jerky (Bak Kwa)
Category
snacks
Cuisine
Chinese
Servings
makes just under a pound
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
This sweet and savory pork jerky is something that I grew up with and it never fails to remind me of my family. Unlike most meat jerkies, it is not dehydrated and is more tender and moist. The flavor reminds me of the Chinese BBQ pork that you can find in a Cantonese BBQ joint.
Author:Fiona Kennedy
Ingredients
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1 lb. ground pork, with at least 15% fat
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¼ cup turbinado sugar (5176)
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1 Tbs. Night Market seasoning (7227)
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1 Tbs. soy sauce
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2 tsp. fish sauce
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1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
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1 Tbs. honey
Directions
Place ground pork, sugar, Night Market seasoning, soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil in mixing bowl and mix well with your hand until mixture is sticky. Cover mixture with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight. (The flavor is best if you let it marinate overnight but you can also just marinate it for an hour if you are impatient).
Heat oven to 325F. Take 2 pieces of parchment paper that are 12-in. X 16-in. Spray one side of each parchment with vegetable oil. Place ground pork on greased side of one piece of parchment paper. Place second piece of parchment paper oil-side down on top of the pork. Using a rolling pin, carefully roll out the pork mixture in an even layer almost to the edges of the parchment. The ideal thickness of the pork is about 3 millimeters. Place parchment paper wrapped pork on a rimmed sheet pan and peel top layer of parchment paper to expose the pork. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let sit until pork is cool enough to handle. There may be some liquid pooled around the pork; it will get reabsorbed while the pork cools.
Raise oven temperature to 425F. In a small bowl, mix honey with 1 tsp. hot water. Remove pork from parchment paper. Use a knife to cut pork into bite size squares. Place a wire rack on top of a rimmed sheet sheet. Arrange the pork squares on wire rack and brush honey mixture on top. Bake pork for 8 minutes. Remove pork from oven and flip over all the pieces and brush the second side with the remaining honey. Bake for about 5-8 minutes more. Be very careful and keep a close eye on the pork during this second baking as the pork can burn very easily. You want a little bit of color on the edges but not too much. Cool to room temperature and serve. To store: place in a sealed container in the fridge but try to bring jerky back to room temperature before serving.