25 August 2012

Rendering Lard

I happened to purchase some pig fat from the butcher the other day and I was thinking what should I do with it. Hmm...

After googling for some recipes, I realized lard can be easily rendered from pig fat. Awesome! So I got down to business.

I chopped up the fat (about 250g) into tiny cubes. The tinier the better actually so you'll be able to get more oil out and the process will be faster. If you would, ask the butcher if they could mince/grind the fat for you so you will have lesser work to do at home.

Though the process is easy, it takes a long time as the pig fat has to be cooked over a low heat.

I placed the cubes into a dry pan.

Starting off

















2 hours later; the oil has started to fill the pan

















3.5 hours later



















8 hours later; FINALLY!


















Lol, I wasn't kidding about the long process. It took me a good 8 hours to get the lard and with that, there were also the cracklings. Cracklings are the golden small pieces of heaven left behind after the oil has been extracted. They are more familiarly known in Singapore as 猪油渣.

I removed the cracklings and set aside and poured the oil into a jar through a filter. The oil has to be clean of any fat remnants as they will cause the oil to become rancid very quickly.

















Okay, there was supposed to be much more oil but I screwed up while I did the pouring. I did it too hurriedly and the oil overflowed the cloth filter and it was wasted.

I should try to use a sieve next time.

But anyway, look at the cracklings! You can easily find cracklings in our local hawker fare like Fried Kway Tiao and Bak Chor Mee but I believe those cracklings they use are usually deep fried in lousy oils which contain transfat and that means even though cracklings are rich in good fat, they eventually become trash.

Alright, back to the lard. You can refrigerate the jar of rendered lard and it will become a white solid semi-hard mass and can be stored up to 6 months.

The idea of rendering lard for me is so that I can up the fat intake of my meals as and when I need it. You can use it to fry vegetables or even add them into your soups!

The cracklings on the other hand, should be eaten fresh (in my opinion). Some people will like to keep it but I wouldn't recommend keeping it past 3 days.

After I was done with the lard, I went on to whip up a plate of lady's fingers with onions. Needless to say, I topped off the dish with a generous sprinkle of those fresh cracklings!



















Yum yum yum. I also realized lady's fingers has got tons of benefits. Here are some of them:

  • helps relieve constipation
  • good source of probiotics
  • helps control blood sugar as it curbs the rate at which sugar is absorbed from the intestinal tract.
  • helps in healing acid reflux
  • contains soluble fibre which helps in controlling the cholesterol level in our bodies
  • contains insoluble fiber too which keeps the intestinal track healthy
  • are especially beneficial for the control of colorectal cancer
  • half a cup of cooked lady's fingers provide nearly 10% of the recommended levels of vitamin B6 and folic acid

Just remember to cook them as fast as you can to avoid the loss of their nutrients.

2 comments:

  1. Qingrong from HWZ here. I just linked your blog from mine for sharing. Let me know if you mind, I will remove it. I just started, feel free to comment. :D

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  2. I like pork lard too. I am also doing LCHF since Nov/Dec 2013. I know this post is a bit old but who cares. LCHF is for everyone at any time. I have since lost 15kg and aiming for another 20kg by August 2014.
    About the above Lard rendering, I would use ground pork fat from the butcher and put it in my slow cooker and leave it high for a few hours. I would get the lard and just filter it from the cracklings.

    Good to hear fellow SIngaporeans into this diet plan. Wishing you success.

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