Bak Kuet Teh

Bak Kuet Teh is one of the popular Chinese soup found in Asia countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and etc. In Singapore there are mainly 3 different types of Bak Kuet Teh and the Teochew version is more popular with patrons with its light color soup base that is more pepper in taste. Whereas for the Hokkien who prefer stronger taste soy sauce is added which results a darker soup. But as for Cantonese extra Chinese herbs, gingok nuts and etc are added to create a stronger flavoured soup.

No matter which version you prefer or dine-in at local hawker stalls to high class restaurant, I am sure you will find something that suits you. But instead of eating out some might want to prepare a home version with additional ingredients like meatball, pork liver and etc.

For Singaporean who works or station overseas for a long time, I believed cooking this hometown food is always something that you desire. I remember those days when I was away from home in Australia for almost 2 years, I miss this soup terribly especially during cold winter night. In this recipe I actually combine both the Teochew and Cantonese version together by adding extra Peppercorns and Chinese Herbs to enhance the flavour (you can omit the herbs but try to add in some white peppercorns for that "hot" flavour).

This is a simple and yet delicious soup to prepare especially for busy working mum or Singaporean who works overseas. All you need is to grab some spare ribs, white peppercorns and a pack of Bak Kuet Teh spices from "Seah's Spices" from any leading supermarket in Singapore. As for overseas friends try to look out the bak kuet teh spices from any Asian grocery stores in over at your end. 

Ingredient: (serves 4)
1 Packet of Seah's Bak Kuet Teh Spices
1kg of Spare Ribs/Pork Ribs
1 Cluster of Garlic
3 Small Onion, cut into wedges
1 Tablespoon of White Peppercorns
1 Tablespoon of Wolfberries
5g of Yuzhu (玉竹)
1 Litre of Water

Method:
1. Wash, trim and blanch spare ribs in boiling water for about 3 minutes.  Removed, rinse and set aside. 

2. Preheat a stock pot with 1 teaspoon of oil, saute garlic and onion till fragrant before adding in spare ribs and give it a quick toss and cook for 30 seconds.

3. Next add in 1 litre of hot water, when the mixture comes to boil drop in the spice pack, white pepercorns and yuzhu. 

4. When the soup boils let it simmer for about 5 minutes before transferring it to a slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 1 hours, add in the wolfberries and continue to cook for another 30 minutes or so. (give the soup a stir once or twice in between the cooking time to evenly distribute the taste of the spices)

Alternatively you can cook this soup on low heat over the stove for about 45 minutes to an hour.

6. Serve with steamed rice and cut chilli with dark soy sauce.

Note:
- Place the peppercorns inside a soup bag, rinse it in water, and crushed lightly with the back of the knife or a mug.

 

For extra bites and greens I prepared some stir-fry kailan with olive oil and minced garlic without adding any oyster sauce then finished off with handful of crispy white baits.