Penang Lor Bak (Crispy Skin Pork Sausages)

Ingredients:

600 g fatty pork, coarsely chopped
1 ½ tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 large onion/2 shallot, finely chopped (yield about 2 ½ tbsp)
1 ½ tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp soy bean paste, minced
2 tsp five spice powder
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp chestnut flour
1 ½ tsp salt or to taste
2 tsp pepper powder or to taste (I used black pepper)

2 large bean-curd sheets
1 egg, lightly beaten for sealing (I used leftover egg yolks from dark soy dipping sauce)
16 pieces toothpick
oil for deep-frying

Dark Soy Dipping Sauce:

1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/8 tsp five spice powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt or to taste
4 tbsp water
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 egg white, beaten

Sweet-Chili Dipping sauce:

3 tbsp chili paste
2 tbsp pounded roasted sesame seeds
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp hoisin or plum sauce
3 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Method:

In a bowl, mix pork, garlic, onion, sugar, soy bean paste, five spice powder, egg, chestnut flour, salt and pepper to make the filling; set aside to marinade for 30 minutes (adjust the taste by pan-fry a bit of the filling mixture).

Rub bean-curd with wet kitchen towel to solften, cut each sheet to four pieces; set aside covered and wet kitchen towel (if bean curd tends to harden quickly, just soften it by soaking into cold water for about 3 minutes and pat dry gently with kitchen towel).

Divide filling into 8 portions.

Spread a portion of filling length-wise on bottom of sheet (spare about 1 inch on all sides for folding and sealing).

Brush-on whisked egg on all sides.

Gently, fold up bottom edge and roll upward till end to form sausage roll, seal both sausage terminals with toothpick.

Alternately, fold-in sides bean-curd while rolling to enclosed.

Heat oil in wok or pot on over high heat, deep-fry sausage rolls till golden brown, cooked through and crispy skin (about 9 minutes).

Remove from oil, drain on paper towels and set aside to cool to handle-able temperature.

Right before serving, cut sausages into 1 inch pieces and serve along with dipping sauces as appetizer or with rice (best serve along with fresh cucumbers slices).

To prepare the dark soy dipping sauce:

In a small pot, mix-in dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, five spice powder, sugar, salt, water and cornstarch; simmer over low heat for about 2 minutes or till yields smooth sauce (stir occasionally); whisk-in egg white to form fine white streaks; remove from heat and apply warm or at room temperature.

To prepare the sweet-chili dipping sauce:

In a small pot, bring vinegar to boil, mix-in chili paste, plum sauce, sugar and salt; simmer over low heat for about 1 minutes (stir occasionally); remove from heat; stir-in sesame seeds and apply warm or at room temperature (We use to drop chili dipping sauce into the middle of dark soy dipping sauce and gradually incorporated while dipping-in sausage pieces, like wasabi in soy sauce for sushi eating).