What is bak kwa, and why do Chinese, Malaysians and Singaporeans crave it at Lunar New Year? Hint: it’s a little like jerky
People pay high prices and queue for ages to get their hands on this salty-sweet dried meat, but where, and how, did it originate?
Among all the well-known Lunar New Year snacks, bak kwa or rou gan is probably among the most famous of them all. Where did this tasty treat, which is similar to jerky, come from?
Bak kwa’s birthplace
Ask any Chinese person and you’ll most likely be told this: bak kwa, which means “dried meat” in the Hokkien dialect, is synonymous with Lunar New Year, and it is almost a crime not to have this moreish snack in your home all through the festive season.
Its origins can be traced by to ancient China, specifically the province of Fujian, during a time when poverty was widespread. Pork (or meat in general) was considered a luxury that not everyone could afford, so it was reserved for Lunar New Year. These succulent barbecued meats are first sliced into thin strips and dipped in a sugar and spice marinade before being air-dried and cooked over a hotplate.
As many Hokkien immigrants from Fujian made their way to the Malay Archipelago (now Malaysia) in the early 15th century to escape a life of poverty, they reputedly brought this delicacy with them. It has since been tweaked to suit local tastes. The Malaysian and Singaporean versions are grilled over charcoal after being air-dried, which gives the meat a smokier flavour. The local version is sweeter than the original.
There are two main varieties of bak kwa in Malaysia and Singapore, minced pork and sliced pork. The minced pork version, which has a higher fat content, is prepared by shaping minced meat into slices before grilling. The sliced version is leaner and tougher as it is made from pork slices that have been cut off from solid blocks of meat.
Modern bak kwa
The choice of meat today extends beyond pork as chicken, beef and mutton are also used, and typically prepared with a concoction of spices, sugar, salt and soy sauce before being air-dried on racks at around 50 degrees to 60 degrees Celsius.