Foodie

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Lor Bak

This is another way to use 'Fu Pei' - Bean Curd Sheets. This dish is very popular in Penang and is readily available in most eating places in Kuala Lumpur but here, you would have to make your own. Other items - such as Fried Tofu, Prawn Fritters, Century Eggs and fresh cucumbers wedges are served along with these.


Ingredients:
(A)
1 lb pork, cut into strips
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp, finely minced garlic
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt, or to taste
½ tsp, black pepper
1 tsp 5 spice powder
1 tbsp ground soya bean paste(mein see/tau cheong)
1 egg, lightly beaten

4 or 5 pieces Fu Pei (bean curd sheets)
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup hot boiling water

1½ cup vegetable oil

1 seedless cucumber, cut into bite-size chunky wedges
INGREDIENTS for Dark-soy Dipping sauce :

2 tbsp dark soy-sauce
a pinch of Chinese 5-spice powder
2 tbsp sugar
salt , to taste
4-5 tbsp water
½ tsp cornstarch
1 egg white, lightly beaten

INGREDIENTS for Sweet-chili sauce :

4 tbsp Sirachi Chilli sauce or any chilli sauce
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, pounded
4 tbsp tomato ketchup
3 tbsp sugar

Method:

To Prepare Dark-soy Dipping Sauce :

In a small pot, combine all ingredients [except egg white], over low heat, bring to a slow simmer
Simmer 1-2 mins stirring occasionally till sauce is smooth
Add egg white, stir with fork, forming fine white streaks in the sauce
Remove from heat, serve at room temperature .

To Prepare Sweet-chili sauce :
Combine all the ingredients and mix until the sugar is dissolved.

To Prepare Lor Bak:

Soften dried bean curd sheets by wiping gently with a clean wet tea towel or paper towels. Cut into squares - size of your choice.( don't forget to add an additional inch on all sides, for folding and rolling )
In a small bowl, add cornstarch and hot boiling water, mixing well into a glue-like paste, set aside
In a bowl, combine (A) and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

In the center of a bean-curd sheet, spoon pork mixture length-wise, forming it into the shape of a log. Brush all the sides of the bean-curd sheet with the cornstarch paste. Roll tightly, folding in the sides while rolling.
Repeat this procedure.
Heat wok on high, add vegetable oil, allow oil to heat up to moderately hot [350F].

Fry several lor bak untill golden brown,, then turn up the heat or remove a few scoops of oil so the the temperature of oil can be very hot and further crisp the lor bak. Remove, drain on cake rack .
Allow to cool slightly, before cutting into bite-size.

Arrange on a serving plate , along with a condiment bowl of dark-soy dipping sauce and a bowl of sweet-chili dipping; garnish with cucumber wedges.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

aiyoyo... if everyone also make one at home.. then no one will buy from those sellers....

then they got no business... then will stop.. once they stop... we will die of hunger la.......

dun do this to us... ok a?... I beg u...


or u prepare some for us la.. can a? hehe

Anonymous said...

HI Lily,

This looks delicious...but do you need to steam this for a few minutes before you deep-fry?

Unknown said...

penangtuapui

i am not so lucky like you all to have the sellers at your doorsteps. if i don't make them, we will never get to eat this anywhere in the United States.

Come here and visit and i will make you some.

Unknown said...

claire

these are fried straight with no steaming.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily
I wonder if you know of another type of fu pei called 'sar kot fu pei'. It is very popular in Ipoh but surprisingly KL people mostly don't know what it is. It has bangkuang in it, is usually in the shape of slices, deep fried, and is absolutely delicious. If you know what I am referring to, would you have the recipe for it? Thanks.

Kev

Unknown said...

kev

i am sorry i have not eaten this particular fu pei with bangkuang. i could ask my ipoh friends and hope she can enlightened me as to how the filling should.

Ipoh readers, please help.

Rebecca said...

Hi Lily,

Since I'm married to Penang, I learn this lor bak from relatives, friends and curi from the chef who came to my mother-in-law's house to prepare meals for the weddings & funeral.

The Penang long table chef for the black and white function -- wedding or funeral, they added in some of the white part of the leek, slice it across otherwise the fiber is long ! Or you can add in 1/2 kati sliced big onion- slt fry them until soft. He added in Lor bak flour = 1:1:1 rice flour, starch powder, flour, 1 egg, 1 kati = 600 gm pork with fat type-- sliced into chop stick thickness & long ,
1-2 Tablespoon of 5 spices powder, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 2-3 Tablespoons of sugar, salt to taste. I used to mix all the above ing. and chill over night -- so that the next day I no need to rush, and make sure the texture is a thick paste mixture,( if not thick enough, add in more flour mixture before you start to roll them ) otherwise it will be as thin & flat like your lor bak. I used to cut the wet/ fresh bean curd sheet ( should say semi dry ) which is sold in Penang or Ipoh, into 2 and spread a roll of pork mixture -- arrange the pork strips and mixture on one piece of bean curd sheet, the whole width of the sheet then roll downward, once u think is enough to hold it, slice the bean curd sheet with a knife and when you place the lor bak onto a tray, make sure the cut edge is at the bottom,so the meat will press with its weight and wet the sheet to seal it. Continue to finish all the meat or the sheets. If left over meat mixture, just fry them as ball/cutlets, I add in some sesame seeds before I fry them, this is good for those who can't buy the bean curd sheets in their countries.Deep fry them over med. fire. Once almost golden, turn to high heat to remove some of the oil. Drain. I did not fold or seal all the edges with paste, not even the 2 ends as I don't like to eat only skin & that's what the chef did. I often make 1 kati of pork then freezer 1/2 for other days. Just grill them, meal is ready.

Hope you will try this Penang style Lor Bak.

Happy cooking.

Rebecca said...

To Lily and Kev,

Sar Kot Fu Pei is not that nice anymore in Ipoh. So far I found 1 stall under the big tree in Woon Dong, still ok.

Well,to make it -- diced bangkuang into tiny cubes - 1/2 cm = 1/4 inch and slt fry them and cool. Add them to the fish paste -- for making fish balls, some fried pork fat, diced and has been fried to golden,( don't add in the oil that you get from frying them ) pinch of 5 spices powder, 1-2 Tablespoon Chinese parsley cut to 1/2 cm, season to taste with pepper & salt, sugar.Mix well with some starch powder to make it a bit solid. Do as you make Lor Pak but fold the 2 ends and roll downwards then shape them into square instead of round like Lor Pak. Steam them until firm. When cooled, slice to 1/2 inches thick and deep fry.

Hope this will help you.

Lily, we eat that with noodle soup. you can eat that with rice too if you want. Dip it in chili sauce -- ha ! Penang people ! Ha ! No chili will die.

Reese Darragh said...

Dear Aunt Lily,

I am going to make your Lor Bak recipe for the Chinese New Year party with my friend this weekend. I was wondering if I can make the lor bak in advance and freeze it. Then fry it on the day itself. Will it change the texture after freezing? Appreciate your advice.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Love,

Reese

Unknown said...

reese

i think it should be ok to freeze and fry them when you need them.

Reese Darragh said...

Thanks Aunt Lily. Will do that.

Reese

Reese Darragh said...

Aunt Lily,

A little problem here. The fu pei won't stick together. I tried to apply the glue like paste made using the cornstarch but it just won't stick. What did I do wrong?

Reese

Unknown said...

reese

the fu pei must be very dried out. place the filled fu pei with the seal side on to a plate and it will stick when it has gone dampened by the starch and it will not open if when putting them to fry, fry the seal side first.

Reese Darragh said...

Aunt Lily,

I just improvised and use toothpicks to seal the sides. It is actually the sides that won't seal. I will try the method you described when I make the next batch. My fu pei wasn't dry enough when I tried to wrap them. That might have been the problem why the side won't seal. BTW, I fried one for tasting earlier. It tasted so good. Just like the real thing I find in KL or Penang. A wonderful recipe again.

Thank you,
Reese

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