Homemade Pork Jerky (Bak Kwa)

I have promised my colleague S that I would post the recipe for my homemade bak kwa for a long time but I never got a round to do it.  Since I have a little bit of time tonight, I decided to write about it first among all the other things I want to blog about.

Ever since I was a kid I had always been wondering how pork jerky is made.  Pork jerky is pretty expensive if you buy them in a store so I was under the impression that the process of making it must be very complicated.  It was until I saw my friend J posting her secret recipe on Facebook that I realized I can possibly make this at home too.  All you need is a big oven, a few pieces of parchment paper and saran wrap, a rolling pin, and of course, lots of pork.  I improvised J's recipe a little and here is Mrs. Bear's very own version of bak kwa.  I don't have to go to Bee Cheng Hiang for this anymore!

Ingredients:
500 grams of ground pork
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon five spice powder
1 tablespoon Hua Tiao wine
1/2 tablespoon Chinese rose wine
a dash of white pepper
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of honey, diluted with 2 tablespoons of water

Method:
1. Mix all ingredients (except for honey water) in a large mixing bowl in one direction until the meat turns gluey.  Let the mixture stand in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
2. Preheat oven at 100C.
3. Cut a piece of parchment paper the size of a baking tray.  Place parchment paper on the kitchen counter and put about half the meat on top.  Cover the meat with saran wrap and flatten the meat using a rolling pin to form a thin sheet of 2-5mm, as desired.  Slide the meat (together with the parchment paper) onto the baking tray and peel off saran wrap.  Repeat this step until all the meat is used up.
4. Place baking tray into the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes until the meat is dry and solid to touch.
5. Remove meat from oven and cut into size and shape preferred, using a cookie cutter or pizza cutter.
6. Place cut meat onto a new piece of baking paper or wire rack. Brush honey water over the meat and grill until the pieces turn brown on both sides and the edges slightly charred. Keep your eyes on them because once the honey water is added they get burned very easily.

Note: this pork jerky does not have preservatives, so it’s better to keep them in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat in microwave or oven when needed.