My second try!! My first time, I rolled them too thinly and they were a bit burned and under seasoned…
This time slightly too thick, seasoning was not too bad.
I grind the fatty pork with kitchenaid. Seasoning included Vietnamese Fish sauce, Chinese rose wine, xo shrimp sauce, oyster sauce, 5 spices and honey.
My dream is to make some Singaporean style of pork jerky!! Still a long way to go!
This definitely looks like the kind I have been introduced as Malaysian beef jerky.
Yes! I believe they are close! I hope to recreate something similar to this style. When travelling in Asia, I’ve tried to bring some home. But recently I read the custom regulations and realised that dried meat is forbidden except from Europe. But I have always succeeded to smuggle them!
Do you think they use slices of meat or minced meat? I looked for online jerky recipes, and they all used minced meat. The texture I’ve tried doesn’t seem to come from minced meat, or they are really compressed.
@klyeoh mentioned the nº1 in Singapore: Lam Chi Guan
I read that they have a smoke taste, they are available only in Singapore, it seems.
The one I’ve tried, Bee Cheung Hiang, it was very good too.
Comparison between the 2 (from online photo), Lam Chi Guan (left) and Bee Cheung Hiang (right) Bee stressed no colouring used.
I am not an expert, but I have seen both – sometime from the same store. For pork and beef, some stores will sell both styles: sliced whole meat (very thin) or minced meat flatten very thin. Here is a photo from.
I asked them before because I didn’t understand the difference. They said that unless it specified as sliced/片, then it is minced. In my limited experience, I also have encountered more minced than whole sliced. Chicken jerky tend to be minced because it is difficult to make a large slice of chicken jerky.
Thanks, that’s getting more clear. I didn’t know the subtle difference in language indicate different things. I’m a bit surprised that the slice was selling the same price as the minced ones.
Never come across it but sounds tasty!
That looks great, @naf! I enjoy fresh beef and pork jerky and always try to buy some when visiting HK or New York City. I never thought of them in style though, but I know the different types you are describing. I just thought that this was what each maker preferred.
What do you cook it on (or in)? Do you just cut them into the small squares bake or roast them in the oven?
Thanks kobuta.
I cooked it in metal tray in oven, one time with a foil wrapping the tray. The second time a silicone mat. I use the roller to thin the minced meat. Note that a lot of juice came out during the cooking process and the meat shrinks a lot. In fact you need a lot of meat to make a small piece. I left it in one whole piece and sliced it after cooking.
I want to try the whole sliced technique, but I don’t have a meat slicing machine, so I’ll see if I can slice the meat thin enough.
This is a shot in the dark, but when the Bee Cheung Hiang vendor said no coloring used, they probably meant no artificial coloring / dyes used. That doesn’t rule out a natural source.
If we can take a page from making char siu, you could use the soaking liquid from red yeast rice to get that vibrant color or use red yeast rice powder.
It is not really difficult to make . I believe that perhaps finely chopped meat is better than ground meat but who has the time nowadays? In retrospect, my mother did not have a cusinart or a meat grinder. She used her cleaver as though she is a Benihaha professional. Unreal Knife skill! This time around, I just purchased ground turkey and ground elk meat. I abhor fat in any of my meat, unless it is sate babe, the Indonesian style barbecued pork on a stick. With that, I like to have a very thin slice of fat on the top part of each slice which when charred with all the marinade, makes a lovely crusty fat. The ones I cooked recently was not dried at all, In fact, once it came out of the initial 250 degree oven, one can see fat at the edge which I had to blot out. If you can look at the site , what’s for dinner#72 dated a week ago, I listed the ingredients as well as the technique for making Bak Kwa using ground turkey and ground elk meat.
I have made it before with ground pork and it was delicious In fact, it was a bit moist so after cooking it, I placed them in the dehydrator for a short while so it will keep in the fridge and not worry . The key is to really marinade the meat overnight , roll it out between parchment paper and stretch tight film , then bake at low temp using the parchment paper and silicone mat . Once it comes out of the oven, let it cool and cut it with a pizza roller, then brush it with honey . in my case, I brushed it with home harvested honey on one side ( it is thinner than commericail purchased ones as it was recommended by my allergist to use local honey for my allergies. So I did not have to add water to dilute the honey , and 4 year old aged Hon Mirin )on the flip side before broiling it for a few minutes ( I used my countertop oven for that purpose and took 4-5 minutes on each side. Be careful as it can burn easily after the desired stage, so I watched it like an owl) as 450 degrees oven did not workl for me. It was excellent, worth the effort. if. you are interested in trying, cannot find the recipe, post a few days ago, sends me an email and I will send. you a copy.
Made it. You’re right about easily burned, I was testing with different height with the top grill in the oven. Better to place it in the middle than too close to the grill, which was the case for the back.
Not too bad, although not exactly the same style like the Singaporean Bee Cheng Hiang sold in shops. First the colour is not the same, reddish from shop. Also maybe the shop ones were sliced thinly and pressed.
How the Singaporean make bak kwa.
