Bak Kwa / Jerky 肉干

Bak Kwa, or commonly known as 肉干 (rougan) in Chinese is a kind of sweet jerky very popular in Singapore and Malaysia, especially during Chinese New Year. Originated from Fujian province in China, bak kwa was traditionally simply air dried as a way to preserve meat. Now, bak kwa is getting more interesting in flavor with the many marinations used. It is now being char grilled to impart the smoky flavor to the meat.

Bak Kwa can be made with mince meat or sliced meat. There are even bacon bak kwa! For those who prefer softer and juicy texture, mince meat bak kwa will be a better choice. Those made with sliced meat are generally tougher and drier.

自制肉干，吃得安心！刚刚烘出来小瓜就迫不及待吵着要吃了。我怕弄脏面杆，用一支汤匙就能将肉碎压平了！

Bak Kwa
Recipe for a 9" x 10" baking sheet

Ingredients

230g minced pork
40g sugar (preferably brown sugar)
2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp cooking wine
1/2 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp dark sweet sauce (I used ABC Kicap Manis)
a dash of 5 spiced powder
1 tbsp honey, plus extra for glazing

Cooking Directions

Mix together all ingredients, use a pair of chopstick and keep stirring the meat until the meat turning from lumpy to gooey (around 10 minutes).
Refrigerate it for at least 3 hours.
Spread the meat across a baking sheet. You may use rolling pin to flatten it (put a layer of cling wrap on top of the meat so that you wont dirty your rolling pin), else, a spoon will do just fine too.
Bake in preheated oven at 160C for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and cut into desired sizes.
Return into oven and bake at 180C for 10-15 minutes.
Use a brush to brush honey on the meat and continue to bake for 1-2 minutes (again, there comes my magic spoon).
Flip all the bak kwa pieces and brush a layer of honey on top.
Return to oven and bake at 180C for 2-3 minutes or until the color turn darker.