Literally
translated bak kut teh means 'meat bone tea'. It is a soup cooked with pork meat and bones plus a variety of herbs that are supposed to provide
nutrients for a healthy constitution. This Hokkien dish originated in Klang, called bak kut soup, but Mr. Lee Boon Teh made it popular by serving
tea with the dish. The tea helps to neutralize the fat so that it reduces the
feeling of bloatedness. His regular customers started calling it bak kut teh. He
started selling bak kut teh from a pushcart under the bridge. After the bridge
was bombed by the Japanese, he moved his bak kut stall a few streets down and,
eventually, into a shophouse. In the sixties, his son moved the business back
'home' under the bridge, to the corner shop where it still occupies. Seng Huat Bak Kut Teh is also popularly known amongst Klang folks as
"Under the Klang Bridge Bak Kut Teh" (盛发桥底肉骨茶), because of
its close proximity to the said bridge. Apart from the tea, it should be served
with yew char kueh and cut red chillies.
I was privileged to learn the recipe from the present
owner.
Different serving suggestions
This is the original version
This is the claypot version whereby you can add lettuce,
mushrooms, quail eggs, and fried tofu skin
This is the dry version. I will
post the recipe next time
Most importantly, this is the spice pack from the restaurant.
Each pack contains 1 sachet of the soup spices.
Ingredients
1 packet of the spices
2 cloves of burnt garlic
Dark caramelised soy sauce
Light soy sauce
(1.5 to 2 kg pork)
The meaty part of a pork leg.
The fat and skin provide collagen
which gives the soup the oomph taste
Pork ribs because the bones
will add taste to the soup
2 chicken feet which will help thicken the soup and also
provide collagen
Okay!! Let’s get cooking
Firstly, prepare the soup base
Put the garlic into a spice
bag to keep the soup clean
Put 2 liters of water into the
cooking pot and bring to boil.
Add 1 tbsp dark soya sauce
Add 2 tbsp light soya sauce.
Put the garlic and 1 bak kut teh spices sachets into the stock
Cover and
simmer
Remove any excess fat and skin from the meat so that the
soup will not be too oily
Wash with
salt and rinse until the water is clear
Blanch the pork and chicken
feet in boiling water to remove the scum
Rinse the meat to remove any
scum that is on them
Put the meat and chicken feet
into the soup
Cover and simmer for 1 hour
It is better to add the ribs later otherwise they will be
overcooked
Blanch and rinse the pork ribs
Add to the soup and simmer until the meat is tender
Turn off the fire once the meat is tender
To prepare the claypot version
Wash and cut 6 iceberg lettuce leaves (生菜)
Place into the claypot
Cut off the roots of 1 pack of enoki mushrooms (金针菇)
Place them on top of the lettuce
Put 10 quail eggs on top
Add the fried tofu skins if you want
Transfer the meat and ribs on top of the vegetables
Spoon and sieve the soup into the claypot to cover the meat
and vegetables as my sous chef Felicia is doing.
Turn on the fire and simmer until the soup is boiling
The bah kut teh is served
