I was gifted some Korean BBQ pork jerky that is too sweet for my taste. I prefer my dried meats with no sugar added but this brand is about 30% sugar. I can add hot sauce but that doesn’t remove the sweetness.
Do you think it can be saved? Would it work to soak it in water or salt water to remove some of the sugar then re-dry it?
That may work, but not sure. First thought was to use it in a soup, stir fry, or noodle dish. Think it can be utilized somehow.
Using in a dish would be foolpdoof, otherwise soaking could work. Not sure, never tried.
Just thinking, maybe make a little dipping sauce of lime juice, chili and fish sauce and try that. It’s from a different part of asia, but I got a feeling it would work (and is easier than soaking and re-drying)
Lime juice and fish sauce sounds good.
I wouldn’t want to cook with it as-is because it would make the dish too sweet, unless the sugar got deeply caramelized. Hmm, maybe charred under the broiler then doused with lime …
Thai style curry maybe, just skip the palm sugar.
I’d try soaking a bit in hot water to try and leech some of the sugar out. Even a couple of changes of water depending on what you’re trying to achieve.
At that point it will also have slightly rehydrated, so you have choices.
You can re-crisp it like Thai stir-fried jerky, or use in beef salad (lime and fish sauce as you said, but depending on the salt level you may not need much fish sauce). You can also chop it up to make something like ants climbing on trees, or use it in bibimbap, though after a soak you’ll likely need to re-season and brown it a bit.
