I have been eagerly admiring and drooling over all the lovely food posted by bloggers who joint the event and took note of this delicious lor bak that is being posted by a few bloggers....I love the minced meat version so told myself I must try this Penang version too. Lor bak uses thinly sliced pork strips instead of minced pork. I must admit, I love this version very much:)
I used Alan's recipe but simplified the methods being the lazy cook that I am:P
Main Ingredients:
500g pork tenderloin, cut into short and thin strips
3 tbsp potato starch(I used wheat starch as I do not have potato starch)
1 large bombay onion, diced
5 water chestuts, skin peeled and diced(omitted as I had none)
50g bangkwang aka yam bean or jicama, peeled and cut into thin strips + 1tsp salt (optional)(salt is omitted and I used 100g instead to replace water chestnuts)
1 large egg
dried beancurd sheet (tau peoy)
oil for deep frying
Marinade:
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp ground pepper
2 tsp five spice powder
Mix all ingredients including the marinate and let it marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Cut beancurd skin into rectangular pieces, each approximately 15 x 20 cm long. This is easily done by following the creased "folding seams" of the folded tau peoy in the packets as they are being sold.
Wipe each piece rapidly with a slightly dampen kitchen towel or cloth to remove excess salt and oil.(Mine wasn't overly salty so I skipped this step)
Lay a piece of tau poey flat on a surface and place approximately 2 tbsp of filling in a tubular shape near one end of it, leaving a small recess (border) around the perimeters.
Fold the two longer sides over the filling and quickly proceed to roll the shorter end facing you over the filling as well, in the direction away from you. A little tension needs to be exerted to make sure that the filling is tightly wrapped, without breaking the beancurd skin.The beancurd skin should be rolled over the filling 2-3 times but no more than that. Excess skin not only affects the textures, it also makes the rolls too salty. Thus, trim any excess skin with a sharp knife.
Dab a bit of the starchy paste from the marinate on your finger and run it along the remaining exposed end of the beancurd skin. Finally, roll over and seal tightly.
Set aside with the sealed edge facing down, using the weight of the filling to keep the meat rolls sealed and intact. Repeat with the remaining pieces of tau poey and filling until ingredients are used up.
To deep fry, add oil to a heated wok over medium flame. Test with a pair of wooden chopsticks or alternatively, place a small piece of excess tau poey into the oil. The oil is sufficiently hot when small bubbles begin to form along the edges of the tau poey rapidly and the tau poey floats up to the surface.
(I used a frying pan instead of wok)
Slowly lower the meat rolls by sliding them into the oil with the sealed edge facing downwards. Divide and deep fry in two or more batches to prevent overcrowding. Turn periodically to ensure even coloration on both sides but be very careful not to break the skin.
When the skin develops a light tan hue, remove the meat rolls from the oil and drain over a wired sieve or colander.
Repeat the deep frying with other batches.
Finally, turn up the flame to medium-high and return the rolls into the oil the second time. This helps to purge out any oils within the rolls and crisp up the skin slightly.
Remove the meat rolls when they turn brown. It should take no more than 15-20 seconds. Do not overdo this the skin may char and burn, leaving a bitter aftertaste.
Drain over wire sieve or colander first and then over kitchen towel to absorb and remove excess oil.
After the rolls have cooled down slightly, cut and serve with, sliced cucumber, deep fried tau kwa (firm beancurd), poh piah chnee (deep fried spring rolls), heh piah chnee (deep fried prawn fritters) or deep fried fish balls.(I ate it with left over bang kwang and chilli/tomato sauce)
I'm submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest [June 2013] - Penang hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodie
