Bak Kut Teh 肉骨茶 means literally 'meat bone tea'. It's actually a watery soup, containing pork ribs that have been slowly simmered in a concoction of herbs and spices. The 'teh' part refers to the Chinese tea which is served as an accompanying drink. (Apparently Chinese oolong tea helps the body deal with ingested fat... must buy some for the kitchen. And my guess is that despite its watery appearance, Bak Kut Teh might not be a low-calorie meal!)
There are several types of Bak Kut Teh, originating in different regions of China. The one we had was Teochew style - a pale broth with a peppery tang. But there's also a Hokkien one, which has dark broth and a more herby flavour. There are probably more, even here in Singapore.
I actually found this dish pretty yummy. The broth was particularly nice - a strong taste that was a little salty, a little fennel-y, a little herby. It's not a 'hot spicy' dish, although like many meals in Asia, it comes with raw chilli as an optional condiment. The meat was very tender - takes a bit of handling to eat these ribs with chopsticks even so! - and had a very mild flavour. I actually added a little soy for more taste.
Five of us were eating - a Japanese, Indonesian, Korean, British combo - and luckily we had one expert who ordered side dishes too. These were salted (slightly pickled?) veg; steeped, slightly sweet, flavoursome groundnuts; braised tofu skin; and my favourite, fried bits of dough - you char kway - which you dip into the soup to absorb the flavour before eating. If you're eating Bak Kut Teh for the first time with friends, I recommend the side dishes for variety.
The tea we had was served partly using the traditional Chinese tea ceremony technique (see Nov 2012's A Chinese Tea Ceremony ) It was pretty strong stuff, actually. And the the tiny thimbles we were given to drink from were ample!
 |
| You Char Kway or 'youtiao' |
You can find Teochew style Bak Kut Teh at Song Fa, 11 New Bridge Road, Singapore.
Photo credit: Yopi
No comments:
Post a Comment