Yen Can Cook ~ Render Lard & Crispy Pork Lard
Any fan of fried pork lard bits aka Zhu Yao Zhar? Those golden tiny nuggets sprinkle on Hokkien Mee and pork noodles are one of the crucial elements for a good plate of Hokkien Mee which not only provide additional crispy texture but also impart a special aroma and delicious flavour to the dish.
In my Hokkien Mee recipe post, I shared how to render lard and this post is for my own record purpose and easy reference in the future.
I got the pork fat from my usual butcher store which is diced and sold in pack. You also can trim off fat from the pork belly and save enough of these trimmings to render lard.
Ingredients
Pork fat
Water
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Step 1: Dice the pork fat and try to cut into even sized cubes so they will cook at approximately the same time.
Step 2: Place the diced pork fat in a large pan and pour water, just enough to cover the fat. Bring the water to a boil and then maintain the heat on low to let it just gently simmer. Allow the pork fats to render out the oil slowly and use a spatula to stir from time to time to make sure they don’t stick to the pan or each other and also to ensure even rendering. Cooking until they turned golden brown.
Step 3: Use a stainless steel ladle and sieve to filter the lard into a clean glass jar and let it cool down before covering the lid. Place the pork lard cubes on paper towel, let cool before storing in container.
The lard will solidify turn white once it’s cool down completely. The lard can be kept in the refrigerator for a few months.
HAPPY COOKING! #dudukrumah #stayhealthy
*Raise hand* Yes, I’m a pork lard fan! 😉 I wonder how long the pork lard cubes will stay crispy. For someone who eats rather healthy, I was quite surprised to see you make pork lard cubes at home….hee..hee. P/S: I think you meant to say oil instead of water in your post?
Kris, I made this on last Sunday and they still remain crunchy, but it’s definitely better to finish it asap. 😛 Since you’re a pork lard fan, have to try to make this at home?
I can’t say I’m a 100% healthy person as I like snacking those unhealthy snacks like chips and I like “drinking” too, but life need balancing, right? LOL
Water is added to render lard, it’s not a typo yo~
Oh, I didn’t know that pork fat is fried in water instead of oil to get pork lard! O_o I wonder how it gets crispy being fried in water….and won’t the water & oil (from the pork fat) splatter during the frying process? Oh, you won’t catch me frying pork lard at home coz something as unhealthy as that, I leave it to eating that outside (the lesser chance to eat, the better)….lol….plus I only like them in certain foods like char kway teow, fried hokkien mee or chee yuk fun (and these I don’t know how to make good ones at home that’s better than the hawker stalls)….haha! 😀
Kris, the water will literally dry up during the process and this happen before it can cause the oil splattering.
OK…this is heaven. Period.
Anything that is mixed with crispy pork lard will be outrageously delicious.
Tekkaus, high five to the love of pork lard!
oOo i’ve never add water, think this would make the processes easier/faster, thanks!
KY, from the article I read, this method is called wet rendering and there are differences with dry rendering where no water is added. Read it here if you’re interested to know more.
https://whattocooktoday.com/how-to-render-lard-and-get-crispy-fried-lard.html