Easy Homemade Bak Kwa Chinese Pork Jerky (In the Oven)

Step 1

Make sure to choose ground pork with some fat marbling. This is to ensure you'll get tender pork jerky later

Step 2

Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix with your clean hand for about 1 minute. The meat mixture will turn pasty, which is what we want

Step 3

Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate to let it marinade overnight in the fridge, at least 6-8 hours is my suggestion for a great flavor

Step 4

Preheat oven to 300 F (160 C). Transfer the marinated pork to a jelly roll pan, lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil (few layers of parchment paper will do too). Place a cling plastic wrap or parchment paper on top and use your palm to roughly spread the meat and then use a rolling pin to roll the meat out evenly to cover the entire pan and to about 3 mm thickness. I feel like this is a great thickness, not too thin, not too thick. Perfect for the bak kwa to be tender

Step 5

Place the jelly roll pan 3rd rack from the top and let it bake for 15-20 minutes. Pour off excess liquid if there's any accumulated during baking. If you use ground turkey or chicken, you may need to bake a little longer because more liquid is accumulated

Step 6

Remove from the oven and very gently, use a spatula or turner to loosen the meat from the pan to flip it over to the other side. You'll be surprised how easily this can be done

Step 7

Once the meat is turned, bake it again for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. The bak kwa is still looking pale and not even close to the finished product you imagine, but fret not, we are not done yet

Step 8

Cut the bak kwa with kitchen shears into the desired size. I cut into 4 x 4 inch pieces. You can cut into a large size like the one they sell, it's up to you. Change to a new aluminum foil or parchment paper and place on a baking sheet again.

Step 9

Arrange the bak kwa pieces back into the pan. Mix honey with water for brushing on the bak kwa. Brush on the bak kwa and sprinkle with some sesame seeds (optional) . Increase the oven temperature to 425 F (220 C). Bake them for another 10-15 minutes or until the jerky turn slightly reddish in color and darker, but not burnt. When you are happy with the color, turn to the other side and brush with some honey mixture and bake again for another 10-15 minutes

Step 10

You can also use a broiler. Turn on the broiler on high and broil for 5-10 minutes. DO NOT walk away. Once you are happy with the color, flip over and broil again until the honey nicely caramelized

Step 11

Let them cool down and then store in air-tight container. Bak kwa is best consumer after 24 hours as the flavors have really developed. They can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month