A couple of days ago, I made bak kwa and some of you wanted to know how it's done. This is for you!
I decided to make my own this year and upon researching on the internet, discovered how easy it is!
Here's my tweaked recipe, with less sugar and salt but nevertheless still as delicious. Give it a try and you may want to tweak it too to suit your taste.
Mix all the ingredients together (EXCEPT THE PORK) in a large bowl. I tasted the mixture first to make sure it was all right. It will taste a little salty and sweet but remember you are going to add a lot of meat to it.
Pre-heat oven to 110 deg C. Line 2-3 baking trays with aluminium foil (not much cleaning after). Using the back of a spoon, spread the pork VERY thinly all across the baking tray. Use more trays if you have meat leftover.
480 gm minced pork (you have to have some fat in it)
1/2 cup castor sugar (I used slightly less than this but 1/2 cup is still not too sweet)
2 tbsp fish sauce
1/4 tsp mixed spices
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp light soy sauce
a few drops of red food colouring (I used gel)
N.B. You can also add pepper if you wish, or maybe 2 tblsp of tomyum paste, chilli powder etc. Just experiment!
When you are satisfied with the taste, add the minced pork, mix thoroughly and marinate for at least 4 hours in the fridge.
Place the trays in the oven and bake dry the meat for about 30-40 minutes. The meat will shrink quite a bit. There will be oil and some juices in the tray but don't worry about that. Remove from the oven and when cool enough to handle, cut into your desired shapes and sizes.
After that I used my toaster oven to grill the meat. Do line the bottom with aluminium foil because it will make a bit of a mess. I didn't use my oven because I didn't want the grilling to
mess it up! Keep turning the meat from time to time and don't take your eyes off it. When
the meat darkens and has those little charred spots, it's ready.Well, there you have it! Homemade Bak Kwa!! Let me know how it goes!
I found a recipe on the internet for Nutella brownies and decided to make them because they looked simple and only needed three ingredients! Nutella, egg and flour!! Here's the mini brownies before going into the oven.
It's amazing how 1/2 cup Nutella, 1 egg and 5 tablespoons of sifted cake flour can go such a long way in producing 12 mini brownie cupcakes. I love how the brownies puffed up to make the domed tops, after being in a 145 degree C oven for 12 minutes.
Here's another shot of the brownies in my soup spoon to show you how small they are. Practically guilt-free!
After the brownies cooled, I frosted them with Nutella straight from the jar and topped them with sprinkles, chopped nuts, chocolate chips and whatever I had in my cupboard. Really yummy! 12 cupcakes lasted approximately 30 minutes...
