Foodie

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Homemade Streaky Bacon/Lap Yuk


Historically, Lap means "ritual" in old Chinese, it was very often that surplus meat after the ritual would be cured for use in times of scarcity. These preserved delicacies are called "Lap-mei" in Cantonese and are often mistaken that they are waxed because of their waxy appearance and the word "lap" which also means wax in that dialect. There are three types of "Lap-mei"and they are preserved Chinese sausages, preserved pork, and preserved ducks.

In Chinese tradition, they are usually prepared around the time of December of lunar calendar, as one of the delicacies to celebrate the 'Spring Harvesting Festival'. They are traditional gifts during the festive seasons, especially during the Chinese New Year.


It has been found that 'Lap-mei' prepared commercially, has nitrite/nitrate and coloring which are not very desirable, therefore this gives me a reason to prepare 'Lap-mei' at home - preservative free.

I have to thank Claire, my dear friend, who came with the special Rose Wine and Dark Soya Sauce.





 Ingredients:
5 lhs belly pork
5 ozs sugar
1/4 cup Mui Kwai Lo (Rose Wine)
1/2 cup light soya sauce
1/4 cup thick dark soya sauce
3 tbsp table salt


Marinated.




First day of drying












Second day of drying or airing
















Method:

Cut belly pork into 1 1/2 - 2 inch strips.

Rub in sugar and salt into meat and pour in the remaining ingredients to marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Turn meat often to marinade evenly. I kept them in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Drill a hole on top of a strip of meat with the sharp point of a boning knife and pass a piece of string through the hole and tie string with a knot.
Hang up to dry in the sun for 1-3 days and move to a windy place to dry for another 2-3 days. I had sun for only a day but managed to get 2 windy days.  Took them in and hang them near the ventilation vent and the heat was good, it dry the meat pretty good.

Steam air dried pork(lup yuk) for 8 minutes over high heat. Slice thinly and serve with rice.


Serves

24 comments:

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Wow, Lily, you are super! I cannot name anything that you wouldn't know how to make. ;) Thanks again for sharing another great recipe with everyone!

Claire said...

The lap yoke looks good! When you cook with it, should you remove the rind before you use it? Can't wait to taste it some time...

Ube said...

I have seen them in Chinatown but never bother to pick up since I do not know where to use it. Now you gave me an idea. Where do you get rose wine? Just the name rose wine I believe it is totally different from rice wine. Perhaps they make a good substitue for ham in XO Sauce only my thought? thanks again.

Claire said...

I also like how you hung the lap yoke using plastic clothes hangars! Smart idea!! I must not discard my plastic clothes hangers...

Suzen said...

Thank you Lily for this great post! I had bought some commercially made lap yuk at the super market in Paris. There was an artificial after taste. I had googled everywhere for a recipe. Too bad I don't have a balcony or any outside place to dry the pork. I will have to go back home to my parents in Chicago to enjoy home made lap yuk.

jess said...

would i be able to dry this in summer? you know because of the dry australia weather and all.

and also, do you have a recipe for lap cheong too?

cheers :)

Unknown said...

Ube

There is a picture of the bottle of The Rose Wine here http://www.penangfaces.chanlilian.net/chinese-wine-mei-kwei-lumei-kuei-lu/. This the drinking wine and has no salt added.

Unknown said...

jess

Lap Cheong will be made soon.

Unknown said...

claire

Steam the lap yuk for 10 minutes, then remove the rind before dicing and for health reasons, use remove some of the fat too.

Anonymous said...

Great recipe! I'll have to try this. Is there a substtue for the rose water?

Unknown said...

woodsman

it is rose wine and this particular rose wine is prefer. The picture of the bottle is here http://www.penangfaces.chanlilian.net/chinese-wine-mei-kwei-lumei-kuei-lu/

MosesOng said...

Lily,

Can you tell me what's your day time temperature? I used to try to make Nyuk Gon (the dried meat) under the sun for 3-6 hours in the summer, but ended up tending flies more than just walk away and let the sun do the work.

Also, when you say thick dark soy sauce, do you refer to the Indonesia ABC brand Kechup manis/masin or real Chinese soy paste?

BTW, if you want to get Pau flour, ask your oriental store and see if they can get you Red Rose brand flour, that's the Pau flour. I had to buy a sag of 50 lb when special order through the store. Now I'm trying to order Stingray for Chinese New Year, what will be a tricky one. Love you site!

From,
Moses
(Kansas City)
www.mosesong.com

Claire said...

Hi Lily,

The Chinese rose wine brand we used was called "Wing Lee Wai"--it has a picture of a steamed chicken on the box and it's made in HK...I got the wine in Los Angeles at Wing Hop Fung Foods in LA Chinatown. this should also be avaialbe at Tak Sing Hong Foods (LA and Monterey Park branches). Another famous Chinese rose wine brand is "Golden Bell"--I think you can get that at 99 Ranch Market, but you need to ask "behind the counter" at the service counter since it will not be on the supermarket shelves. Hope this helps your readers.

Also the dark soya sauce we used was Koon Chun brand labeled as "Double Black Soy Sauce"--you should be able to get at the Chinese markets and for sure at 99 Ranch Chinese market.

Unknown said...

claire

my dear friend, thank you

Unknown said...

mosesong

thanks, 50 lbs? i would have to sell paus then - ha ha

for your dried meat, follow my recipe - long yoke/bak kwa recipe and dry them in the oven, no flies, no headache or tummyache

Kristy said...

This is very interesting. I always wonder how do you cook it. I see the commercial on tv and the pot of rice the sausage and meat look so yummy. But then I'm not sure hot to cook these kind of meat.

Tuty said...

Lily,

Can't wait until you make lap cheong...
That's my favorite ;-)

Mary Bergfeld said...

You are a treasure, Lily. You are like a walking encyclopedia of Asian cooking. I so appreciate that you share your knowledge with us.

Chris said...

Just a suggestion as where we live it gets frozen outside on the deck! My mum used to make this and hang the meat in the basement. Of course as kids we were horrified! Now, I go YUM! Love your blog!

Anonymous said...

aunty lily,

You might try to add Glauber's salt ( ngar siew) to get rid of the flies.

just my two cents of thoughts

paulfoo78

Unknown said...

paulfoo78

thanks for the tip. Friends in the tropics could use this valuable tip. I make my bacon during late autumn when it is getting colder and the sun is still in colorado, so no flies.

Anonymous said...

I'm from Madagascar and I'm found of lap cheong ! Could you please, please give the recipe ?

I've tried some recipes from internet but it has not the same taste as I ate in Chinese restaurant abroad !

Darien

Unknown said...

darien

i have been wanting to make some lap cheong and it has to be in autumn when it is not so hot.

Pam said...

My mother used to make this using bourbon, I think, instead of wine. She made it in the winter "when the cold north wind blows" which looking back was absurd because we lived outside of Phoenix. She covered it in a cheesecloth sack to allow drying and keep vermin out.

She always served it with fried sliced potatoes. Not sure why but that's how we ate it!

Great site! I bought some at the Asian Market in Omaha which is an amazing place -- best one I've seen outside of SF where we are from. We are visiting our daughter who is school in Omaha and is very interested in Chinese cooking so I've been showing her how to do it with this wonderful market. I pinned your site and she copied it!

Thanks!

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