Dry bah kut teh 干肉骨茶 (Klang style)

 

I wasn't excited when I first tried the dry bah kut teh because it was very dry. It was when my friend, the owner of the famous under the bridge Bah Kut Teh shop in Klang taught me to use pork belly instead of ribs that I truly loved it. I like the softness of the skin and meat and the oomph from the chilis. If you don’t want to eat the dry version on the same day as the soup version, you can keep the pork belly and some soup to cook another day. By the way, you can add some small pork ribs to the dry bah kut teh if you like.

Thanks, Ah Boy for sharing your recipe with me. 

Ingredients

1 or 2 strips of pork belly depending on how much you want to cook.

1 or 2 dried cuttlefish (squids)
Okra
Black garlic (minced)
Dried chili

Blanch the pork belly to remove the scum.

Put the clean pork into the bah kut teh soup.
Cover and cook until it is almost tender.

In the meantime, cut the cuttlefish into strips.

Soak the cuttlefish until softened.

Drain and let it dry.

Heat some oil in a wok and fry the cuttlefish until golden brown.

Remove and set aside.

Cut the dried chilis to remove the seeds.
Soak the chilis for about 5 minutes to slightly soften it.

Remove the top and tail of the okra

Cut the okra into bite-size pieces.

Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Remove the pork belly and let it cool down.

Slice the pork belly when it has cooled down.

Set aside.

In a bowl put the following:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp bah kut teh soup
½ tsp sugar
Pepper 

Heat some oil in the wok and fry the garlic.

Add the dried chili.

Add the cuttlefish and prepared sauce.
Mix thoroughly.

Add the okra.

When the okra is softened, add the pork belly and mix thoroughly.
Adjust the seasoning and add a little more soup if it is too dry.

Transfer to a claypot and simmer on low heat for 10 mins.

Serve with white rice.