Clem's Bak Kwa
 
 
 

For the Chinese in Nanyang, when Bak Kwa is spotted for sale all around town, it means that the Chinese New Year is approaching. Bak Kwa is eaten as a tidbit rather than at meals. It has always been a relatively expensive delicacy, given that a dried product ends up much less in quantity than the starting raw material.

Growing up, I have always heard this dried meat referred to as Bak Poh in my family circle. It was much later that I heard the term Bak Kwa. Both terms come from Hokkien/Teochew and Wikipedia says Bak Kwa means "dried meat" (่‚‰ไนพ) and Bak Poh means "dried/preserved meat slice" (่‚‰่„ฏ).

Bak Kwa is basically a meat (usually pork) that is salted using soy sauce (which also imparts umami and sweetened (usually with sugar), made into thin sheets and then dried (or BBQed). Its taste varies with the flavour ingredients used. I remember that the Kuching variety of Bak Kwa is much preferred by me over both the West Malaysian and Singaporean variety. Even in Kuching, the taste does vary - my favourite vendor was Chop Guan Hock at Padugan.

I was combing through the internet mindlessly last night and came across a reference to homemade bak kwa. So I looked up some recipes and decided to make some today just for fun. Here's what I did:

 

INGREDIENTS

Interchange g for mL below if more convenient

  • 1 kg pork mince.
    Choose a 80% lean to 20% fat mixture if you can.
    You may also decide to use chicken mince if you don't take pork.
     
  • 5 g black pepper powder*.
     
  • 30 mL fish sauce*.
     
  • 30 mL light soy sauce*.
     
  • 20 mL dark soy sauce*.
     
  • 15 mL Shaoxin cooking wine*.
     
  • 10 mL sesame oil.
     
  • 90 g brown sugar*.
     
  • 1/2 teaspoon 5-Spice powder.
     
  • Maltose syrup or honey for glazing.
     
  • Optional: 20 mL oyster sauce.
     

Optional (but used by me).

  • 1 teaspoon Liquid  Apple wood smoke (to compensate for the fact that I did not BBQ the mince sheets).
  • 1 teaspoon MSG.
     

* Quantities of the asterisked ingredients may be increased to taste. I have given quantities which are much less (about 50%) than I have seen other recipes state.
 

METHOD

  • Thoroughly the all the ingredients (except the maltose/honey) together until well incorporated. The mixing will also help further develop the stickiness of the pork mince (helpful for sheet making later).
     
  • Let the mixed mince marinate for an hour or two.
     
  • Cut out a piece of aluminium foil a little bigger than the base of the pan which you will use later to bake the mince.
     
  • Spread out a quantity of mince onto the foil, and then cover it evenly with a piece of plastic film which is bigger than the al foil.
     
  • Further spread out the mince by patting down on the plastic film. Then use a rolling pin to make an even thin sheet of mince in between the al foil and plastic film. A thickness of between 4 to 6 mm thick will be fine.

     
  

Pork mince in between aluminium foil and plastic film, flattened into a sheet with a rolling pin
 
   
  • Place the rolled out mince in a baking pan, remove the plastic film, and bake the mince at 120oC for some 15 minutes.
    The mince sheet will shrink and you will see liquid exudate (dripping) after the baking.
     
  • Take out the cooked mince sheet and glaze it with maltose or honey.
    Note that maltose is very thick and sticky - you need to warm it before use.
    Honey is probably easier to work with.

 

  


Pork mince sheet after baking for 15 minutes at 120oC
(This is after taking out from the pan which was used for baking hence no dripping is visible in this second pan)

 
 
  • After glazing with maltose or honey, return the mince sheet to the oven and grill at 220oC for no more than 6 minutes at a time. This step is to develop the colour and acquire a bit of charring.
    Monitor very closely at this stage because the product will easily burn due to the quantity of sugars around.
    Remember carry-over heat, so stop the grilling before the product has reached the colour desired as there will be a bit of cooking after the pan is taken out of the oven.

    You will notice that the mince sheet will have shrunk by around half. Shrinkage is normal.
  

The mince sheet after the grilling stage
 
   
  • The finished Bak Kwa will stiffen after it cools down after removal from the oven.
    Cut the sheet into your preferred shape/sizes.
  

Clem's Bak Kwa
 
 

 

ENJOY!!



 

www.clemkuek.com

 

04 September 2026
 

Cooking by Clem: https://clemkuek.com/photoalbum/photo696.html
 

Video presentations can be found here:

Earlier Days: https://youtu.be/BWyHY1h9Y5s

Recent Past: https://youtu.be/PL9wWSI_Dfw

More Recently: https://youtu.be/nk6O2tGJ5pk

 



Created by Clem Kuek