Arri London wrote:
>
> Steve Wertz wrote:
> >
> > On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 19:48:19 -0600, Arri London wrote:
> >
> > > Tasty Dried Meat Squares (from one of the Wei Chuan cookbooks)
> > >
> > > 2 2/3 lbs fresh ham or pork loin cut into paper thin slices.
> > >
> > > 1 1/2 tsp salt
> > > 4 tbs sugar
> > > 1/8 tsp cinnamon
> > > 1/8 tsp 5-spice powder
> > > 1/8 tsp licorice powder (optional)
> > > 2 tbs soy sauce
> > > 1 tbs rice wine
> > > 1/8 tsp red food coloring (optional)
> > > 1 tsp MSG
> > >
> > > Soak pork slices in the spice mixture for 24 hours. Press soaked meat
> > > slices in a lightly oiled bamboo basket. Let dry for 24 hours [could
> > > probably use a food dehydrator set on low].
> > >
> > > Cut the meat into into 12 squares and grill for 1 1/2 minutes each side
> > > or bake at 400 F until brown.
> > >
> > > Any Chinese supermarket will have this commercially prepared; good
> > > stuff!
> >
> > I'm having trouble trying to determine what this would be in the
> > Asian markets ("Meat Squares"?) It almost seems like it would
> > make pork fu if it were shredded, but grilled and cut into
> > squares doesn't fit.
> >
> > Slicing a pork loin paper thin and then cutting into 12 squares
> > seems like it'd be awful difficult to grill such small pieces.
> >
> > -sw
>
> It isn't pork fu which is as you say the shredded version. I believe the
> Cantonese name is 'long yoke'. The book gives the recipe in Chinese and
> expectedly the first two characters are 'zhu rou' which means pork. I
> can't work out the stroke number for the third character though, so my
> dictionary isn't much help LOL. When I find out what the third character
> I will post it here.

Sorry had to sign off due to impending thunderstorm! The third character
in the Chinese name for the recipe is 'gan' meaning dried. So the full
name is 'zhu rou gan' or 'pork meat dried', often shortened to 'rou
gan'..
>
> The thin slices are overlapped on the bamboo strainer. Once dried they
> form a single sheet. That's what gets cut into the squares. Smaller
> strainer equals fewer pieces to cut it into.