Bakwa (sweet pork jerky) recipe

My husband, who is Australian, is a jerky addict. He especially loves bakwa. He first had it when he was in Singapore for a layover, which was not long after we started going out. As he was describing this delicacy, in his usual way, he used his own made up word to name it, he called it Sam yang yoi. I racked my brain trying to remember a dish named Sam yang yoi only to realized that he was describing bakwa. 

I've tried many recipes over the year and hadn't really found one I really liked until now. I found this recipe by Not Quite Nigella. I didn't fully follow her exact method of baking and skipped the honey water at the end (it's already sweet enough). The result is this sticky, smokey, and lovely flavoured candied meat. Most of the recipes I've found in the past had too much fish sauce smell to it, whereas the ratio in this one is just right. 

I guess I could say that this recipe is inspired by Not Quite Nigella because I didn't fully follow her recipes. Here's my version. 

Ingredients 

1 kg/2.2 lbs pork mince (not lean, well go lean if you have to but it will taste much better if it isn't all lean)

250g/8.83ozs. white sugar

2 tablespoons beetroot juice (for colour)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1.5 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon Shao Xing Rice Wine

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients really well until it's really sticky and well combined. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight to marinade. 

2.The next day preheat oven to 180C. Divide the dough into roughly five portions and have a few baking trays ready. Tear off five sheets of parchment around the size of your baking trays. Lay out one of the portions of seasoned mince on one and cover with baking paper (it's much better than cling film). Roll out to the edges as thinly as possible without making any holes in the mince. The thinner the tastier. Lift the parchment onto the baking tray.

3. Bake each tray for 15 mins. Take out and cut into small squares.

4. Crank up the oven to 200C and put the cut up meat back into the oven for about 15-20 mins until the meat is all nice and brown in colour and all sticky. 

5. Leave to cool and store outside for a couple of days. According to Not Quite Nigella, don't put it in the fridge because it will lose its flavour. 

Enjoy! Here's the link to the original recipe again.