Chinese snack - Part II - Beef/Pork Jerky

This is another impressive looking "Chinese Snack", it looks complicated but it's actually quite easy to make! The idea came to me from my mother in law, she has been making a lot of HK style pork jerky lately and it soo good, so I decided to try it out as well. Unlike the beef jerky you get at the local gas station for $1, the Chinese style pork/beef jerky is more of a high end snack. There are speciality stores that sell these jerkies for upwards of $7 a piece! The main difference is that the Chinese style jerky is more moist, a softer consistency and is often sweet. I always thought making jerky will require a lot of special tools and equipments, but it turns out all you need is an oven. And all the ingredients required are mostly likely already in your fridge and pantry!

Chinese style meat jerky

Ingredients


2lbs of  minced pork (or minced beef, I used a combination of 1.5 lbs of pork and 0.5lb of beef)
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp 5-spice powder
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese wine (Hua Tiao/Shao Hsing)
dashes of black pepper
5 tbsp sugar

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mix until the mixture is in a gluey consistency. Let marinate for a few hours in the fridge.
2. Place the mixture on a large cookie sheet covered with foil.

3. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap, and flatten/roll into a thin layer, as thin as possible.

4. Preheat oven to 180°C, bake for 12 minutes.

5. Set oven to broil and broil until the edge is brown and slightly char. Remove the jerky from the oven, let cool, flip the jerky over, and broil the back side until it gets brown and char as well.

6. Slice (A pizza cutter works really well) and ENJOY!

Chinese Snacks - Part I - Mango Mochis

I’m a huge mango lover! I love anything mango, and these little mango mochis definitely fit the bill! Mango mochis are not easy to find, the first time I had it was at a Chinese restaurant which specialized in their lobster feast, the best way to end the 5-course lobster dinner was with these little mango mochis. They look so complicated to make, so I was pleasantly surprised when I surfed the net and came across this super duper easy recipe. This recipe has been tried and tested, and it’s a real winner!! ENJOY!

Mango Mochi

Makes 18

1 cup glutinous rice flour


180ml mango juice

1/4 cup sugar

3 mangoes cut in tiny cubes

½ bag of unsweetened, finely shredded coconut for dusting/coating

Method:

1. Cut the mangoes into tiny cubes, lay them flat on a plate and freeze for 30 minutes or up. (This will make the slimy mangoes easier to work with)

2. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour, juice and sugar. Stir and mix well, there should be no lumps.

 3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, microwave for 2 minutes. Remove and stir. Return to microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir-well (it’s going to be hard to stir, the mixture should be a uniform and very sticky at this point).

4. Put the shredded coconut on a plate, drop a tablespoon of the mixture into the coconut. Flatten the ball into a thin disk, cover it with coconut, drop some mango in the middle of the disk and wrap the “dough” around the mango to form a ball, pinch the top to seal the ball. Add more coconut if it gets too sticky, once the ball is seal, lightly roll it into ball shape, and put onto muffin cups.These can be made ahead and refrigerate in a covered container for up to 2 – 3 days. They are a crowd pleaser and a great compliment to any Chinese dinner.