At a glance, Chinese pork strips look like bacon. Upon close examination they still look like bacon, albeit in long strips having an inch-square cross section. One difference is that they are very well cured, so well preserved that Asian markets may have a box of the strips left at room temperature like so much kindling. The flavor is distinct, with sweet spices along with allure of redundant pork fat. What more could a person want?

A market in Oakland’s Chinatown had a big box of the real deal.

I wimped out and opted for the kind sold in shrink-wrapped heavy plastic. I didn’t know it at the time, but the Kam Yen Jan brand, produced by the January Corporation in exotic Seattle, Washington, is well-regarded. They also make Chinese sausage, which drier and less fat, but has a similar sweet-spice flavor. The sausages are usually colored red, but that is unrelated to the flavor.

My wife advised that pork strips are served sliced crosswise, and that they can be sliced before or after steaming. I figured they would be easier to handle before cooking. Did I mention that they look like bacon?

They are cooked by steaming. I balanced a plate on a smaller bowl in a larger pan with water. They steam covered for 15 minutes.

Steaming makes the fat translucent, inspiring the Chinese to call it “wax meat.”

Pork strips are usually served with rice. Between the fat and the spices, a little bit goes a long way. It is delicious, and I think the average person would enjoy it. Maybe not the average organic raw-food vegan Californian, but the average real person. Certainly anyone who likes bacon.

I did not have much success finding pork strips from an vendor on the web. When I checked, the January company web site registration had expired and not been renewed. Sari Sari Oriental Market and PilopinoMart were offering Kam Yen Jan sausage, but not the pork strips. Seek an Oriental market.