I received curious questions and even an e-mail from a homesick overseas Singaporean about the Yuk Si (pork floss) that my mum gave me. Here is the recipe, as related by Mummy over the telephone. As usual for these type of instructions, quite a bit of guesstimation is involved. Mummy also warned that the yield is relatively small for the amount of pork used and the effort utilised. 3 kg of pork resulted in about 3 medium sized Horlicks jars worth of floss. On the plus side, she reassured me that the recipe is Very Simple indeed.
1. Take some pork. A cut that is fleshy with some fat, like shoulder, is ideal. Slice the meat to medium thickness.
2. Simmer the meat with a small amount of water (e.g. 3 cups to 3 kg of meat) for as long as is needed to render the pork soft. You don't want too much water, otherwise you will end up with stew. Also make allowances that the pork would also leach some liquid.
3. Use fingers to pull and tear the cooked pork. Forks and chopsticks could also be used too but fingers would be faster.
3. Season the flaked pork. Sugar, salt and Chinese rice wine. Quite generous amounts of seasoning would be needed, taste as you go along until you are happy with the flavour. Add a little bit of dark soya sauce to give a bit of colour. Oyster sauce is optional.
4. In a wok, over very low heat, dry fry the pork. No need to add oil to the wok. You must stand over the wok and fry constantly, so that the pork does not burn. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the wok constantly. This may take more than 1 hour. Fry until all the liquid has dried up and the pork looks like carpet fibre.
5. To make the floss crispy, spread the floss on a baking sheet and grill under low heat for about 10 minutes.
Try it and let me know how it turns out. Good luck!
