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

Bavarian Bier Cafe, Parramatta

Last night, I had the pleasure of dining with three friends whom I have not seen since last year. One friend had spent the end of 2011 and these summer holidays trekking through Europe, and regaled us with tales of cute French boys who helped with her luggage, and eating apple strudel and some kind of "wurst" in Austria. Her descriptions of chewy dumplings in beef broth had me salivating, and my stomach grumbled in anticipation of my next feed. It was a good thing that we happened to be eating dinner at the Bavarian Bier Cafe in Parramatta, and my order was the Slow-Roasted Pork Knuckle. 

Succulent slow-roasted pork knuckle, $37.50

When our friendly waiter brought it to our table, I think all four of us had identical expressions of awe and disbelief. I knew from reading other Sydney food blogs that it was going to be huge, and I had a general idea of how big a pork knuckle was, but I was still unprepared for the sight of what resembled a golden boulder sitting in the middle of the plate.

It was almost the size of my hand! Wait, does that make me a porker? ;P

The challenge was on! What challenge? Well, that of finishing the entire knuckle, of course!

Another of my beautiful pork knuckle. Notice the ample crackling covering the knuckle.

The knuckle was served with generous portions of mashed potato, sauerkraut, and Lowenbrau bier jus.

The sauerkraut was simply the perfect accompaniment to the fatty pork. Each bite was a delicious blend of textures and flavours.

I started with the crispy pork rind/crackling since 1) it's the tastiest part of the knuckle and 2) I was afraid it would go soggy from all the juices on the bottom. Animal fat may be a turn off for some people, but I was delighted to find a layer of translucent fat attached to the underside of the pork rind. A bite of the sauerkraut after each piece of crackling stopped it from being overwhelmingly fatty.

A piece of crackling. CRACKLING...*drools*

I then proceeded to polish off the whole knuckle. Minus the bones. And two finger-sized slivers that I gave my friends to try. The waitress who came to collect our plates couldn't believe her eyes. She said to me, "Did you really finish all that yourself? No one has ever done that before." Like, seriously? Instead of feeling affronted at the insinuation that I was a complete and utter glutton, I took it as a compliment, leaned back, and rubbed my tummy in contentment. And contempt for those with weaker wills and stomachs.

I left the mash and sauerkraut. I said I have a very elastic stomach, not a bottomless one xD

However, even I had to pass on dessert. My friends, who all ordered some sort of salad for their main, went ahead and indulged in the apple strudel with vanilla anglaise (and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on request):

Apple strudel, $12

And the creme brulee (also served with ice cream), which was on the 'specials' menu:

Creme brulee, (I didn't note down the price)

*burp*

Bavarian Bier Cafe

2-8 Phillip Street, Parramatta, NSW 2150

Phone: (02) 8836 1400