Some of you may have seen this photo on Instagram or my Facebook page last week and since I cooked this slightly differently from the bak kut teh post I did eons ago (before I erm, kinda abandoned the blog for about a year), I thought I’d do up another bak kut teh recipe since this version (which I’ve cooked many times over the past 2 years) is more delish.
A tad oilier this round because of the pork – ran out of oil filter paper so didn’t manage to filter off the oil
Hubby said that the pork fat made the meat so creamy and tasty and there were very clean bones after dinner. Apparently my daughter concurred with him. Me? I skipped the fats, as I always do – putting on too much weight from snacking with the kids every day!
This is the brand of spices I use. My family swears by this. If you’re looking for those Klang herbal type of bak kut teh, then this is not for you because it’s specifically non-herbal as indicated on the packaging. It’s more Teochew-style – light, non-herbal and peppery heaven.
This version has an added oomph to it because of the addition of these Chinese dried mushrooms –
This recipe’s my mum’s actually, since she was the one who introduced it to me so, yes, this is another one of mummy’s recipes – mum knows best indeed! 🙂
And since we’re big on veggies, I serve my bak kut teh alongside some blanched romaine lettuce with oyster sauce, fried shallots and shallot oil (油菜).
Super fresh looking romaine lettuce (prior to blanching)
Don’t forget the spicy kickass chilli padi in dark soy sauce for dipping the meat!
Here’s the Bak Kut Teh recipe:
- 800g pork ribs
- 1 packet bak kut teh spice
- 6 bowls water (6 x 300ml)
- 1 bowl water (for rehydrating dried mushrooms)
- 8-10 dried chinese mushrooms
- 8 cloves garlic, rinse, leave skins on
- a few drops of dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- a dash of ground black pepper
- a dash of hua diao jiu
- 4 chilli padis, sliced
- dark soy sauce
- Rinse the dried Chinese mushrooms then rehydrate them in a bowl of room temperature water (about 30 minutes). Snip off the stems when they are soft.
- Remove the dried Chinese mushrooms from the water, pat them a little dry and rub the seasoning into the caps.
- Place pork ribs in a pot of water (just enough to cover the ribs) and bring the water to a boil. Remove and set the ribs aside.
- Bring 6 bowls of water to a boil with the garlic cloves and packet of spice. Add the ribs in. Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 35 minutes to 1 hour (the longer you simmer, the more peppery the soup).
- Steam the mushrooms for 5-10 minutes.
- Pour the mushrooms, the juices from steaming and the bowl of water they were soaked in into the soup pot 10minutes prior to when you want to turn off the fire. Bring the soup to a boil again then simmer for the last 10 minutes. (Total cooking time should not exceed 1 hour).
- Serve bak kut teh with piping hot rice, side dishes such as blanched vegetables (油菜), fried bread stick (油条) and chilli dip.
Click the link for the full list of soup recipes (with thumbnails).
Click the link for a complete list of one-dish meals (with thumbnails) on the blog.
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How much water is 6 bowl of water? 1.5 litre?
Hi Jamie, I just checked. My bowl’s capacity is 300ml so it’s 1.8L. I’ll edit the recipe later 😉
Hi,
I tried your recipe tonight and I must say that your seasoned mushrooms are so tasty and surprisingly with so little ingredients for the seasoning. I totally overlooked the step to add the soaked mushroom water back to the soup – shall remember it the next time. The romaine lettuce is a nice change from the usual blanched greens. I usually mix the oyster sauce with equal volume of hot water and a dash of sesame oil and then drizzle the mixture over the blanched veggies. Too lazy to do the shallots thing.
Thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked it!