Homemade Cognac Bak Kwa - Chinese Pork Jerky (using Brandt Oven FP1067XS) 自制白兰地肉干 (中英食谱教程)

As Chinese New Year is just around the corner, (in fact less than a week's time), it is not difficult to decide what to bake on the opening of my new dry kitchen using my new Brandt oven. (You can click here to read more about the new kitchen and new Brandt appliances.) I have decided to bake the Chinese Pork Jerky known as Bak Kwa or Rou Gan (肉干）which is traditionally eaten during this festival. Bak Kwa is available throughout the year in our local stores like Bee Chun Heng （美真香）and Fragrance (香味). However, nearer to the Chinese New Year, the price per kilogram would rocket up almost double to about SIN $50 ~ $60. What an exorbitant price to pay!

Making Bak Kwa at home is not difficult. My first attempt last year was so well received that the first tray of bak kwa was gone in minutes when it came out of the oven!
 
This year, I decided to make something special with the Bak Kwa by adding cognac to the marinate. As we know, cooking with wine will bring additional flavor to the food we are preparing. If you have young children at home like me, you may be concern about adding alcohol to any food that they will be consuming. But not to worry, it is absolutely safe for the kids to eat the cognac bak kwa (白兰地肉干）because when the wine is being heated, the alcohol and the sulfates found in it are cooked off, leaving only an aroma and light taste.

I baked a batch this afternoon and it is very fragrant. My kids did not detect anything unusual and they ate it happily. Do try making these homemade bak kwa as it is definitely healthier than store bought ones. We can eat with ease as we know what goes into making it, most important without any preservatives and chemicals. It will also make a great gift for your relatives and friends especially when they know it is homemade with love.

Homemade Cognac Bak Kwa - Chinese Pork Jerky (Tutorial Recipe)

Tools needed:
Aluminium Baking Tray Size: 39cm x 34 cm (15” x 13”)
Pizza Cutter

Ingredients:
100g brown sugar
1 tbsp premium light soy sauce
1 tbsp Cognac (I use Hennessy V.S.O.P., you can replaced with rose wine or chinese rice wine)
½ tbsp fish sauce
1tbsp premium oyster sauce
1tsp premium dark soy sauce
¼ tsp Chinese five spices powder
1/2tsp salt
500g minced pork (with some fat for greater taste)
**If you prefer the bak kwa to be sweeter, you can add 1~2 tbsp of honey to the above marinate.

Honey Glazed- 1 tbsp honey dilute with 1 tsp water （for brushing on the cooked slice pork before grilling)


Sauces for marinate

自制白兰地肉干 (食谱教程)


材料：
100克 黄糖
1汤匙 特级酱油
1汤匙 白兰地酒 （可取代用玫瑰酒或绍兴酒）
1/2汤匙 鱼露
1汤匙 极品耗油
1茶匙 特级黑酱油
1/4茶匙 五香粉
1/2茶匙 盐
500克 猪绞肉（要带点肥肉比较好吃）
** 如果你喜欢吃比较甜的肉干，可以在腌料中加入1〜2汤匙的蜂蜜

蜂蜜汁- 1汤匙蜂蜜加1茶匙水 （用来刷在煮好的肉片上）



Method 做法：
1）Put the first 8 ingredients in a bowl and mixed well into a sauce. Place the minced meat in a big mixing bowl and pour the mixed sauce into it and start mixing together with a pair of chopsticks. Blend and stir the mixture in one direction until the meat becomes gluey. (this is important, otherwise the meat will break up) Store in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
1）把前8种配料放入碗中并充分混合成酱。将猪绞肉放入一个大碗里，把酱倒进，用一双筷子搅拌，混合在一起。混合时，用同样的方向一直搅拌到肉变成胶状为止。 （这是很重要的，否则肉会分散）然后存放在冰箱几个小时或过夜。



Marinate the minced pork and chill overnight

2) Spread the marinated minced pork thinly onto the baking tray lay with parchment/non stick baking paper.
2) 把腌好的肉碎薄薄的放在铺有一层不粘烤纸的烤盘上。





3) Bake at pre-heated oven at 130C top and bottom heat with fan (for my brandt oven, I used the traditional pulsed function) for 12 mins. After the meat is cooked at this stage, remove from oven. Increase the oven temperature to 200C top heat with fan (for my brandt oven, I used the pulsed grill function).
3) 预热烤箱以130℃ (上下热带风扇) 烘烤12分钟。肉煮熟后，从烤箱取出。增加烤箱温度到200℃ 。(上热带风扇)





4) Cut the cooked meat into 9 pieces or any desired size with a pizza cutter (or scissors) as seen in the photo. Flip to the opposite side and brush the meat with the honey glaze.
4) 用披萨刀把肉切成9块， 翻到另一面，并刷上蜂蜜汁。







6) Once done, let it cool and enjoy!
6) 冷却后享用！

Recipe adapted and modified from Nasi Lemak Lover. Photos are personally taken by baking taitai with an iphone, sometimes with just one hand while working with the other. 


Note: 500g of minced meat can make 9 pieces of bak kwa weighing about 270 grams as most of the moisture have evaporated during the baking process.





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感謝 BakingTaitai 提供以上資料

BakingTaitai的網誌: http://bakingtaitai.blogspot.hk/

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