Bak Kut Teh Recipe

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.

bak kut teh recipe

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 –

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:

4.0 from 1 reviews
Bak Kut Teh Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Mains
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Easy bak kut teh recipe with dried Chinese mushrooms.
Ingredients
  • 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
Seasoning for mushrooms
  • 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
  • a dash of ground black pepper
  • a dash of hua diao jiu
Dip
  • 4 chilli padis, sliced
  • dark soy sauce
Instructions
  1. 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.
  2. Remove the dried Chinese mushrooms from the water, pat them a little dry and rub the seasoning into the caps.
  3. 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.
  4. 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).
  5. Steam the mushrooms for 5-10 minutes.
  6. 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).
  7. 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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Posted in 1-dish meals, Food for kids, Pork, Recipes, Recipes for the family, Soups, Soups (suitable for tots) | 4 Comments

Voyage of Dreams @ My Treehouse Library

Though “My tree house” at Central Library opened its doors to the kids at the end of May this year, I never got down to bringing the kids there until yesterday when we ‘set sail’ on the Voyage of dreams.

When we arrived, I must say we were very impressed!

my treehouse library

Located at B1 of the building, you simply can’t miss this! I wish I had a library like that to go to when I was young!

my treehouse library

Aptly named after the centrepiece which features a tree house structure constructed with recyclable materials, the library is designed specifically with children in mind.

Since we were there after my girl’s art class, the crafting session open to the public for the event was almost ending so we quickly got down to crafting with whatever was left. Despite the rush and rather limited resources (since we were there in the last hour of the event), my daughter was still very pleased with the entire experience. I guess soaking in the atmosphere created was part of the reason!

[The photos below were taken by my friend Rosalind who attended the event earlier in the day] –

As my little one was cranky by the time we were done crafting, we couldn’t stay for the finale for the Voyage of Dreams and we didn’t have time to explore the The Knowledge Tree (a shadow play wall, to learn about the environment and energy conservation) or The Weather Stump which charts real-time weather information provided by the Meteorological Service Singapore. We hope to be back soon to check out “My Tree House” in its entirety! 🙂

And thanks Sarah for the wonderful time we had! Wish we could have checked out the happening maze too!

National Library Board,
Central Public Library
100 Victoria Street
Singapore 188064
(Basement)
Opening Hours:
Mon – Sun : 10.00am – 9.00pmClosed at 5.00pm on eves of Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year
Closed on Public Holidays

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Posted in Places & Events, Reviews | 1 Comment