Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh

Bak kut teh is a labourer's meal...filling, with requisite proteins and carbohydrates. And one of my favourites.

Two broad styles are available. The Singapore style where the soup is clear and peppery, and the Klang style with herbal and often dark soup. I love both. And this rather new place in Simpang Bedok, also well known because it is part of the Yellow Ribbon Project...the shop is owned and operated by ex-offenders trying to make a good living. The owner taught himself how to cook, and opened this shop.

The style offered, was interestingly kind of a mix between the two main styles. It is pepppery, but with a light herbal flavour, with a hint of dong guai - a root known in traditional Chinese medicine to fight fatigue, anemea and high blood pressure. It has a bitter and strong fragrance, and this perfumed the broth.

And like some of the more traditional bak kut teh, the chef has included pork liver and some slivers of pork stomache. Very nicely flavoured. The meat was tender, the nice.

But the star of the show for me was the dry bak kut teh

I figure the BKT is cooked till the broth is much reduced...but also added in the ingredient mix is some very flavourful cuttlefish. Quite magnificent. This is the only place I know of to eat this style of dry BKT, now that Blissful Cafe is closed.

Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh
302 Bedok Road
+65 62733338
https://www.facebook.com/soonhuatbakkutteh
11:00 am – 10:00 pm

Song Fa Bak Kut Teh

Bak Kut Teh...a curious name...pork rib tea, loosely translated. But a venerable staple of local food, it combines the rice staple and good old pork ribs in a soup.

I am not sure of the origins of the bak kut teh, but many ascribe the beginings to come from coolies who needed a good solid breakfast or lunch to carry them through a hard day of labour. The rice provides the carbohydrates and the pork ribs the protein. The soup, herbal or peppery provides nutrition as well as hydration.

Interestingly, this is one dish which traditionally, can be served for all the main meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Song Fa, if I remember correctly used to operate at Blanco Court before it was demolished to become the now Raffles Hospital. They are now in South Bridge Road and in Changi Point. Their style is the peppery one, though less peppery than Ya Hua.

We ordered the premium pork loin ribs...long boned pork ribs. The meat was very tender, if a little mild. I found the soup to be very mild...preferring the more pungent version of Ya Hua.

The braised pork leg was quite good, nice, tender, flavourful. And for the healthy concious, not very fat.

The braised peanuts are exquisite. Very nice indeed.

The kiam chye is quite nice, and not too salty as the dish can sometimes tend to be. A rather refreshing dish.

I seem to remember their soup to be much more flavourful in the days back at Blanco Court. But the current version is still very nice, and robust, perhaps they are reacting to the feedback for a less peppery version. Still highly recommended.

11 New Bridge Road #01-01
7.00am - 10.00pm Closed on Monday
6533 6128

Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh

Bak Kut Teh is one of the old favourites in Singapore...eaten all day long...from breakfast to lunch to dinner to supper. Anytime is a good time for Bak Kut Teh.

And one of the famous ones is Ng Ah Sio...this one, we visited the outlet at the Chui Huay Lim Club...a club for Teochews...

We ordered the prime rib...

The soup was power! Very fragrant, aromatic. And very tasty. But hold from drinking too much...especially when most BKT shops allow unlimited servings of soup...each bowl is some 2000mg of sodium...and the recommended daily maximum is 2500mg, it is easy to take in too much sodium.

But back to the BKT...the prime rib was long, and very lean

Perhaps a tad too lean. But it was tender enough not to cause impressions of being dry. Not the very best rib I have eaten, but not the worst either.

To supplement, we had some pork trotters, braised

Very good. Smooth, rich, luxurious. Again not the best example of braised trotters, I actually much prefer the one served by Zhou's Kitchen, but Ng Ah Sio's is very good, and satisfying.

Service was prompt, and rather smooth. The ambience of the location quite nice. Parking is easy and plentiful.

Chui Huay Lim Club
190 Keng Lee Rd #01-03, Singapore 308409
6250 4537
Mondays to Sundays: 8:30am to 8:30pm

Song Fa Bak Kut Teh

One of my old time favourite clear soup bak kut teh Song Fa, formerly at the Blanco Court coffee shop. Since the removal of Blanco Court, they have now moved the main store to a shophouse just opposite Centrel, but a stall exists at Rochor Center, and now operate as a stall in the KopiTiam.

When Prof Horolographer and I dropped by Gin Studios (photographic suppliers: Sinar, Broncolor and Photoclam), we had lunch at the famous bak kut teh.



We were served clear, peppery soup with huge ribs. I have always preferred the prime ribs to the backbone...what the Hokkiens call leng kut (dragon bone). And these were served with very tender, very flavourful ribs. Lovely!

We also had a small serving of pork leg, which was rather average...



Swathed in a delicious dark sauce, the cut we got was rather fat, with skin intact. Normally the fat can be rendered with long braising, but in this case, a rather thick layer of fat still persists under the skin. The lean meat attached was rather tender and tasty.

Overall, still a nice peperry style bak kut teh.




1 Rochor Road
01-506 Rochor Road Rochor Centre Kopitiam
Singapore, Singapore
180001
Phone : +65 65336128
Opening hours : 0800 - 2300, Off on Monday except Public Holidays

Bak Kut Teh: Blissful Cafe, welcome to the dark side

several occassions

Bak Kut Teh, literally pork bone soup, was originally concocted to satisfy the energy and protein demands of coolies. As a result, the meal is rich and satisfying. BKT in Singapore is a favourite for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We see many stores selling BKT, but only few are good enough to make it to this blog.

Two broad schools of thought prevail amongst the aficionados. One with a clear(ish) soup, full of pepper as typified by Ah Hua. And the other is the Klang school, characterised by a thick, herbal soup, sometimes black in appearance. The dark side of BKT.

I love both with a vengence...and alternate between Ah Hua and Blissful. Between the light side and the dark side. It is my destiny, I cannot resist it.

Blissful Cafe serves one of my favourite dark BKT. Interestingly named, this is a traditional store, tucked away in Sultan Gate...a typically Malay enclave, offering many Middle Eastern food outlets, and the enticing Sabar Menanti at Kandarhar Street.

Blissful belongs to the dark side of the force, and offers two distinct types of Klang style BKT.

First the herbal version:



The dark, brooding soup, chock full of herbs bursts into flavours in the mouth. Cabbage, mushrooms adorn the BKT, and the meat of the pork ribs are super tender, fall of the bone, dissolve in the mouth type.

The other, less common version is the black Klang style...



The dark sauce, not soup, smothers the pork ribs. The ribs are so tender, that they have mostly disintegrated from the bone in the pot, and ready to melt in your mouth. The garnish of sliced, dried cuttlefish (jew her) is added. The pork really makes my day. Succulent, flavoursome. Rich. Did I say tender? Yes, very tender. Blissful!



Superior!

The braised pork leg is also excellent:



Served on the bone, the trotter is carefully braised in herbs and spices till it too literally falls off the bone and melts in the mouth. These are not mere cliches, but truisms. As many readers know, I have a soft spot for a well braised leg of pork. This version is one of my favourites, along with the PuDong Kitchen's version and one from Zhou's Kitchen (blog soon).



The meat, the skin, the collagen all combine to make the ter kar (pork leg) special. Imbued with the braising sauce, the meat is ultra tender, and very flavoursome.

This is a hearty meal. To be eaten with plain steamed jasmine rice. It wakes up the ancient primordial instincts - much like a good slab of steak is bound to do.



Blissful Cafe
29 – 31 Sultan Gate
Tel: 6298 8538