Singapore is boring compared to drama queen that is Manila (where you can have strong earthquakes, super typhoons, and coup d’ etat back to back to back in less than three months, I kid you not). But I keep coming back there for the food. Peranakan food, satay at Lau Pasat at 7 pm, sting ray with kalamansi and sambal, chicken rice…
… and bak kut teh (“meat bone tea”).
This dish was introduced to me by a Singaporean ex-colleague who brought me to this hole-in-the-wall eatery a block away from our office.
Hwa Ji Bak Kut Teh. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram
It’s like a very peppery nilagang baboy but not quite. It’s best eaten when it’s hot and when you’re about to get sick with flu.
There’s a debate as to where it originated–Singapore or Malaysia (like any other dish that can be found in both countries)–and which tastes better. The peppery one is Singaporean and the herbal one comes from Malaysia–Klang Valley to be precise.
A Malaysian colleague of mine dismisses the peppery one and declares the Malaysian herbal version as heavenly. My Hong Kong Chinese colleague @kongapored and I like the peppery version.
So @kongapored one time brought me to a famous bak kut teh place called Founder in their Bugis branch. She said one Kpop idol was seen dining there, so naturally the fans swarmed the place.
I liked it and it was more generous with the meat compared to Hwa Ji (which is very stingy with meat and you can only compensate by asking for more soup refills).
Another one liked was Old Street (I went to their branch in Kallang Wave Mall), which was also generous with meat (it seems like everyone else is generous compared to Hwa Ji 🤔).
Old Street Bak Kut Teh (Kallang Wave Mall). This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram
It was perfect at that time when I had it in July last year when I was barely myself.
Another favorite is Song Fa and I usually have it in their Chinatown Point Mall in Chinatown along New Bridge Road. I usually have the one with the rib part with more meat in it (around SGD 9-ish).
Song Fa Bak Kut Teh (Chinatown Point Mall). This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram
So what’s it really? While eating alone in Old Street, I read the writing on their wall that told the Singaporean version of its origins. It was supposed to be a dish for Singapore’s dock workers (coolies) to keep them energized and to stave off illness. It’s tea from pork ribs = you cook it until the meat falls off the bone. You can buy the bak kut teh packs from grocery stores like NTUC Fairprice (my go-to place for groceries) or Chinese medicine/food specialty stores in Chinatown.
I once made a mistake of opening one of the bak kut teh bags, spilling all the spices in the big pot of pork ribs (1 kg). You should never do that or else you will end up with a super peppery (to the point of being inedible) sorry mess of a bak kut teh. I tried finishing 1 kg of pork ribs of that sorry excuse of a bak kut teh by myself but I failed miserably and had to throw it away. What I should have done is to cook the bag–the entire lot–like a tea bag in the pot with one whole head of garlic. You can separate the garlic into cloves but I preferred to cut it in half and dunk it in the pot. Same thing.
The best way to stew it is to use a slow cooker for this.
But stupid me, I always forget to buy the bak kut teh mix whenever I go to Singapore. Please remind me to do so in October when I come back.