Bak Kut Teh Recipe
A few months back, I was so engrossed in my summer recipe spree that I could barely imagine what I’d make this winter. There was no need for me to worry. The winter cold hit us with a bang this year and I jumped straight into making spicy, meaty stews. Our environment really helps determine what we want to eat, doesn’t it?
This recipe is inspired by Song Fa Bak Kut Teh, a popular Singaporean restaurant brand. Their well-loved pork rib soup is served with a generous amount of garlic and white pepper that warm up your body and tongue! Yes, Singaporeans eat bak kut teh year round and it’s a very popular comfort food.
I really love how the flavor of the broth at Song Fa transforms in your mouth over time. The white pepper fills up your tongue with layers of spice after each spoonful of soup. After a while, you can feel the cooling licorice root inside your whole mouth. I’ve done my best to recreate this experience.
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What Cut of Ribs Should I Use?
Many bak kut teh restaurants in Singapore actually offer a variety of rib cuts for you to choose from. While choosing a rib cut depends a lot on your personal preferences, the higher quality options will usually command higher prices.
I grew up enjoying St. Louis style spare ribs, so this is also the cut I use when making bak kut teh. St Louis style ribs are easier to cut up than spare ribs, but still pack a lot of flavor. They’re fattier than baby back ribs, which means they tend to taste less dry when cooked for a long time. You’ll want to gently cook the ribs for at least an hour for them to absorb the broth flavor.
No matter the cut you choose, these are my recommendations:
The fresher the better!
If you can, purchase a whole rack of ribs and chop it up yourself right before cooking. Less processed meats have been handled less, which means they are closer to their original pristine condition.
Look for more marbling.
You may be familiar with looking for marbling in beef for a more melt-in-your-mouth consistency. Pork is no exception. You can look for these succulent hot spots on the meat side of the ribs. There should be thick, white streaks of fat distributed evenly throughout the lean parts.
Which Spices Does Bak Kut Teh Have?
There are many regional versions of bak kut teh, so the answer really varies. Song Fa’s version is known for its generous amount of white pepper, but it isn’t light on herbal flavor either. This recipe relies on the following herbal ingredients to create that classic, multilayered taste experience.
Star anise has an earthy and sweet taste. It’s an extremely common ingredient in meat dishes to help bring out the natural sweetness of the meat.
Fennel seeds add a fragrance similar to star anise and taste a bit like licorice.
Like with fennel seeds, you’ll want to use as little clove as possible. It has a sweet and slightly spicy aroma, but too much will make your broth too bitter.
Garlic with peel
Garlic peel serves two main functions in this bak kut teh recipe. Firstly, it keeps your garlic from disintegrating into the soup. Secondly, it adds an additional garlicky spice to your soup, which offers a refreshing contrast from the white pepper.
Licorice root adds a cooling, aftertaste on your tongue. Like with the garlic peel, it serves to add an additional flavor element on top of the white pepper.
Chinese cinnamon adds another warm fragrance to the pork to help offset any gaminess of the meat.
Sand ginger has a pleasant, almost forest-like taste which helps balance out the sweeter flavors of the other herbal ingredients.
Bak Kut Teh Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- Chop the pork rack into individual ribs. It’s easier if you flip the ribs so that the meat is facing down.
- Add the water to a large pot and heat until it’s boiling.
- Meanwhile, prepare the herbs. Remove the roots from the garlic bulb. Separate the garlic bulb into cloves but leave the inner peel intact.
- Once the water is boiling, add the ribs to the pot and turn down the heat until the water is simmering. Simmer the ribs for 5 minutes before skimming out the congealed pork blood. If you purchased the ribs precut, you should rinse them to remove loose bone pieces.
- Add the star anise, licorice root, Chinese cinnamon, sand ginger, fennel seeds, and cloves to a stainless steel mesh strainer. Place the strainer in the pot.
- Add the garlic, freshly ground white pepper powder, black pepper powder, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, and MSG directly into the soup.
- Cook everything on a low simmer for 1.5 hours, until the meat starts to come off the bone. You can take the time to prepare accompaniments such as youtiao, oolong tea, rice, or rice noodles.
- Remove the herbs but serve the garlic with the ribs in the soup. Give the soup a good stir before ladling.