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Learn how to make tender and flavorful Chinese pork jerky bak kwa at home using an oven. All-natural ingredients with no preservatives. Perfect as a snack or for Chinese New Year gifting.
CHINESE PORK JERKY (ROU GAN)
Rou gan or Chinese pork jerky (bak kwa in Hokkien) is big deal in Singapore especially during Chinese New Year (CNY) where the sellers can jack up the price 2-3 times during this festive season. I remember trying to bring this bak kwa from Singapore to Minneapolis when I first moved here and they got thrown away at the airport! OUCH! Okay, I got it..no meat product! At least I tried LOL! Chinese pork jerky is unlike the beef jerky or pork jerky I’ve eaten here in the U.S. The beef jerky here is really extremely lean. So lean to the point that I couldn’t even chew them most of the time! Though, I understand that the beef jerky here is marketed as a healthy snack. I’ve come across some of my favorite beef jerky that is more at the tender side. Bak kwa on the other hand, is tender and usually at the sweet side and it is an indulgent, not as healthy snack 🙂 Ground pork is marinated in seasonings and some cases, spices, for different choices of flavors and taste and then roll flat and grilled on charcoal for that smoky flavor
EASY NO FUSS BAK KWA RECIPE
I used to think to make bak kwa must be extremely difficult because of how expensive it is during CNY. In reality, they are pretty simple to make and you can customize the flavor to your liking
Ingredients: Ground pork with some fat, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, five-spice powder, ground white pepper, honey
Traditionally, the bak kwa is grilled on charcoal. I find that baking the bak kwa in the oven also gives an amazing result. You don’t need any fancy equipment!
Only 4 ingredients to make bak kwa with original flavor
GROUND PORK OR SLICED PORK TO MAKE BAK KWA
A bak kwa enthusiast will say that sliced pork is a better one to use to make bak kwa because it still has that meat fiber and more flavor. I can tell you though, this ground pork version also produces a really good result and much more convenient because ground pork is widely available and easier to manage too. My husband told me the bak kwa tasted just like those you bought from the shop. The kids were all over them too.
TOP TIPS YOU NEED TO KNOW TO MAKE REALLY GOOD BAK KWA
1. DO NOT USE FROZEN MEAT
Once you thaw the frozen meat, it will have some moisture and this will affect the end result of the bak kwa
2. CHOOSE MEAT WITH SOME FAT
This is to ensure you get tender bak kwa
3. MEAT TO PAN RATIO
I use 500 gr of meat for 15 x 10-inch jelly roll pan. It’s enough to cover the entire surface of the pan nicely with 3 mm thickness. If you plan to make less, you will need to use half the size of the pan I use. You want the bak kwa to have a perfect thickness, not too thin and not too thick
HOMEMADE BAK KWA IN THE OVEN STEP-BY-STEP COOKING GUIDE
STEP ONE: MARINATE THE MEAT
1. Place ground pork (or meat of your choice), sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, five-spice powder and ground white pepper in mixing bowl. Stir with a chopstick in one direction until the meat is sticky and more paste-like
2. Cover and marinate for at least 6-8 hours or overnight in the fridge (but I recommend no longer than that) for maximum flavor
STEP TWO: SHAPING
Transfer the meat to jelly roll pan. Place a piece of parchment paper on top, slightly bigger than your pan. Roll the marinated meat out on the pan with small rolling pin to cover the entire surface of the pan and to about 2 mm thickness
STEP THREE: COOKING
1. Bake in the preheated oven at 300 F (121 C) for 25-30 minutes and then gently flip to the other side and bake for another 15 minutes
2. Cut into the desired size with kitchen shears
3. Increase oven temperature to 425 F (220 C). Brush the jerky with honey mixture and then bake until you are happy with the color and then flip to the other side and brush with honey mixture again. Please DO NOT walk away during this process or you will char the meat badly. You can also use a broiler. Set it to high and broil for few minutes until you are happy with the color and then flip over and brush with some honey mixture and broil again
CUSTOMIZE YOUR BAK KWA
FLAVOR: You can add chili powder to make it spicy or whatever flavor you fancy, you can add it when you marinate the meat
MEAT CHOICES: I’ve seen people use ground chicken, ground turkey and ground beef to make bak kwa. I have only tried them with ground pork and ground turkey. Ground turkey tends to be a bit more “watery” and so initial baking time took a bit longer.
BAK KWA SHELF LIFE
Freshly made bak kwa can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. They can be kept in the refrigerator for up to one month after that. I do not recommend freezing bak kwa. If you see some white spots appearing on your bak kwa, under normal circumstances, that’s not because of mold or fungi, it’s usually because the sugar hasn’t been caramelized enough during the cooking process.
HOW TO REHEAT BAK KWA
You can wrap them with aluminum foil and reheat in the oven or toaster oven at 350 F for 5 minutes. You can use the microwave to reheat for about 30 seconds or so.
You may like this recipe using bak kwa
Easy Bak Kwa Fried Rice (Chinese Meat Jerky Fried Rice)
Soft Fluffy Bak Kwa Milk Buns (Meat Jerky Buns) – Tangzhong
Easy Homemade Bak Kwa Chinese Pork Jerky (In the Oven)
Ingredients
- 500 gr ground pork at least 85% lean 15% fat, see notes
- 80 gr sugar
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 ½ Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
For brushing:
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp water
Kitchen tools you need:
- small rolling pin
- parchment paper
- 15 x 10 inch Jelly roll pan
- kitchen brush
Instructions
Marinade the pork:
- Make sure to choose ground pork with some fat marbling. This is to ensure you'll get tender pork jerky later
- 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
- 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
Shaping:
- Preheat oven to 300 F (160 C) for conventional oven. For a convection oven, lower the temperature by 15 C or 20 F. Transfer the marinated pork to a jelly roll pan, lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil (a 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
Cooking:
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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.
Increase oven temperature:
- 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) for a conventional oven. For a convection oven, lower the temperature by 15 C or 20 F. Bake them for another 5-8 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 5-8 minutes. Because every oven is different, you may need to experiment with the timing, but start with 5 minutes and monitor
- 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
Serving and storage:
- 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
- You may also be interested in this golden bak kwa coin recipe that I tweaked slightly from this recipe
45 comments
Hi Marvellina,
Thank you so much for the recipe. So I thought I bought ground pork but somehow I ended up with ground beef. Anyways I followed the recipe but my meat shrank! I probably lost 1/8 of the size. I am using a my oven on convection which I’m assuming may have been too hot. Wondering if you had any suggestions. I did see an earlier comment on baking at 250 for 15 min per side. Additionally, I looked online and saw that some say if you don’t pre-heat the oven it could help not to shrink. Either way I’m so excited to try the bak kwa once it cools a bit!
Hi Joslyn, I bake at 300 F but my oven is not convection. If you have convection you can try lower the temperature to 250-275 F. Some oven run hotter than others. I think it’s normal for the meat to shrink a bit.