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Fried Lard & Lard Oil Recipe
If you are a fan of Chinese local food, you will notice that many hawkers add fried lard and lard oil in their cooking. The hawkers do that for a very good reason – lard give incredible flavour to the food. I know some of you may be uneasy about using lard in home-cooking, but I always believe everything (even good stuff) in moderation. I added a few crispy fried lard pieces and a tiny amount of lard oil in my fish ball soup and it enhances the tastes greatly.
More Home-made Oil Recipes:
- Shallot Oil Recipe
- Garlic Oil Recipe
- Rendered Chicken Fat Recipe
- Rendered Duck Fat Recipe (pictured above)
I bought 50 cents worth of pork fats (about 200 grams worth of pork belly skin) from the market and it makes the amount of lard and lard oil as shown in the photos. Although it is a small condiment dish, it will last quite a while for small family (2-4) cooking needs.
Also, if you have a cast iron or any non-teflon type of cookware, frying lard is a great way to season your wok or pan and give your cookware a natural, non-stick coating which will last for a few rounds of cooking. Can you see the amount of oil which was rendered from the photo above?
You do not need any oil for frying the lard pieces, as oil will be rendered with heat, and the lard will start to fry themselves in the hot oil. The fried lard pieces soaked in lard oil keeps well unrefrigerated for about 1-2 weeks.
Update (Mar 2014): The most tedious part of the recipe must be cutting the pork fats into small cubes. For convenience, I buy the pre-cut lard cubes from Sheng Siong supermarket so all I have to do is to cook it. I don’t even wash it beforehand, as any small bit of moisture will cause messy splattering.
Some uses of fried lard and lard oil in Asian cooking:
- flavours quick cooking soups such as fish ball noodle soup;
- jazzes up almost any Chinese stir-fries dishes or Singapore hawker dishes such as Hokkein Mee & Char Kway Teow.
I am uneasy about lard in home-cooking cos of the assumed deep-frying I need to do, not because I don’t like lard. Usually I will eat the fried lard when served with fish ball noodles, prawn noodles soup – I don’t feel uneasy doing so but maybe… observers might find it uneasy. ;p
Oh lardy lard! Ooh lard di da! Just had to say it……
Unhealthy stuff
use the lard oil for char kway teow.
Jolene, I believe in everything in moderation.
this is too delicious and sinful for words!
Lard oil is actually healthier than butter and margarine. If I want to make it, I just microwave it, so much easier. :P
I don’t know that can microwave, I’ll try it next time. Yes lard isn’t as unhealthy as people think, some recent research even suggest it’s the new health food :O
i can’t stop cooks from using them but whenever i spot one tiny piece in my dish, i’ll remove it
Lately, I have discovered this secret ingredient behind Chinese street food dishes. I am crazy for Chinese food and I am loving Hong Kong so much for that. Lovely post and very informative!
A bit OTT, how do you clean off the oil on your chopping board after cutting the fats? I made lard once and the fats made the microban board so oily no matter how I washed it, the oil just cant be washed off…
Hi Jean, sorry for my late reply, missed this comment. I scrub my cooking board with a hard bristles brush before washing off with detergent. Perhaps you can try putting a piece of baking parchment paper on the chopping board and discard the baking sheet after cutting. It should be much easier to clean up.
Hi Wiffy,
Thanks. I was also thinking of placing a piece of baking paper or cling wrap onto the board. Will try it next time!
I actually scrubbed with CIF but it doesn’t remove the grease…sigh…and i’m using the Neoflam chopping board with mircroban..wonder if its easier to clean wooden chopping boards…