How to Cook Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶)

A nice, piping hot bowl of clear Bak Kut Teh, 肉骨茶. 

Bak Kut Teh (literally "Meat", "Bone" and "Tea"), or 肉骨茶, is a broth with pork (usually spare ribs), and spices such as pepper and garlic. It comes in two forms, the clear peppery type, or the dark herbal type.

The BKT is a delicacy in Singapore. The clear peppery type is the most common here.

Now I shall share how to cook BKT, Singapore-style ;)

Ingredients:

• Pork - 100g per pax. Pork ribs is preferred, however, loin is also acceptable too.
• Garlic - 1 bulb
• BKT pre-mix - 1 pkt (see below)
• Seasoning - as required

Preparation:

• Clean and blanch the meat. This means you need a separate bowl/pot of boiling water. The duration is dependent on the amount of meat involve. My rule of thumb is 1 minute per 100g of meat.
• Clean the garlic, then smash it. It is not necessary to remove the skin, unless it is dirty.
• Prepare a pot of water (about 1L, or follow the instructions on the premix) and bring it to a boil using high heat.
• Add all the ingredients (meat, garlic and BKT premix) into the boiling water. Add additional garlic and pepper if you really like the peppery-garlicky taste! (I do!)
• Bring the mixture into a boil again. Stir occasionally. Note: When stirring, do take care not to break the bag. It happens!!
• Lower the heat, and continue cooking for at least 30 minutes.
• Serve with white rice. Suggested condiments: dark soy sauce with cut red chilli.

In general, the broth becomes flavourful with extended duration of cooking at low heat. You may need to add additional premix bags if the serving sizes increases.

Note: The broth might get salty with additional packet of premix. It might be a better idea to add in more pepper and garlic. They are the main ingredients of the premix anyway.

For the premix, there are many kinds available in the supermarket. I am particularly fond of this brand:

Simply because it is relatively cheaper and it is peppery to my liking :)

Enjoy!

Huat Ah!