Bak kwa (aka. "rou gan" or pork jerky!)

I whipped up a batch of bak kwa last night, using Karen's recipe over at Citrus and Candy. Chances are you've already frequented her site, which is filled with beautiful, drool-inducing food pornography photography, but if you haven't I highly recommend you do so soon! Her recipe and tutorial for bak kwa, or (South)East Asian-style pork jerky (I'm trying really hard to be politically correct) is straightforward and easy to follow, but nonetheless produces an authentic bak kwa that really took my mind back to the street food of Hong Kong.

When I say "a batch", I really mean 2kg of pork mince's worth.To be fair, my local butcher was doing a special of "2kg for $12". All the Asians out there know what I'm talking about. A bargain's a bargain, even if it means you end up with more (perishable!) food than you know what to do with. When I emptied the mince out into a bowl, I experienced genuine fear at the sheer amount of PORK in front of me.

Once everything was done grilling, though,  I realised 2kg was just the right amount to prepare. First of all, when you have a large family like mine, even a mountain of food pretty much disappears in a short while, provided it tastes good. Secondly, even though the method for making bak kwa is simple, and doesn't require a lot of technique, the whole process from marinating the meat overnight to drying it out at low temperature to grilling it in high heat is time-consuming. So go for broke, and cook (and eat) as much of it as you can in one go!

I've made bak kwa once before using quite lean mince. I prefer the result from the fattier mince I used this time round. The bak kwa was definitely juicier, and the combination of caramelised sugar and fat is always a winner. I would recommend eating it hot though, since the fat congeals into an unsightly mess once it gets cold. But eaten right out of the oven (or off the grill)...oh fatty pork, why must something as delicious as you be so bad for my cardiovasculature?

Bak kwa (Asian-style pork jerky)
Recipe from Citrus and Candy; refer to Karen's site for a wonderfully detailed tutorial