To count the most traditional dish/food in Malaysian, Bak Kut Teh must be one of the representative that shouldn’t be missed. Malaysian Bak Kut Teh is a famous and healthy soup consist of few ingredients – pork ribs and few Chinese herbs. Some Malaysian will also add mushroom and dried tofu into the soup.
History of Bak Kut Teh
Bak Kut Teh was first found in Klang, Malaysian. In old days, lots of Chinese lived under poverty. To earn a living for the whole family, some Chinese men chose to work as a “coolie” in Malaysia. As their works required lots of energies, some workers started to collect some Chinese herb leftover to boil and with pork ribs to drink as a soup in the morning. The Chinese herb kept the workers warm and healthy, while the pork ribs provided them the daily energies to work.
This soup was then further spread by a restaurant owner called Lee Man Teh. Named after his name, this herbal pork ribs soup became a Bak Kut “Teh” at that time. And because the pronunciation of “teh” is like the pronunciation of “tea” in Hokkien, so this soup is called “Pork Bone Tea” in Chinese.
Different Flavours between Singaporean and Malaysian Bak Kut Teh
Passed through generations, Bak Kut Teh now become an irreplaceable Malaysian cuisine not only for “coolie”, but for all Malaysian. In Malaysia, Bak Kut Teh almost appears in every Malaysian restaurant serving as their breakfast, lunch and dinner.
However, not only Malaysian get obsessed with Bak Kut Teh, this obsession spread to Singapore as well. In early days, Singaporean bought the formula of Bak Kut Teh from Malaysia. But soon they developed their own Bak Kut Teh formula. Singaporean reduced the herbal portion in Malaysian Bak Kut Teh and added large amount of white pepper and garlic to increase the spiciness, which become another flavour that we can try next time. And now, let’s begin to make this traditional Malaysian Bak Kut Teh!
Herbal Pork Ribs Soup (Malaysian Bak Kut Teh 肉骨茶)
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 600 g Pork Ribs
- 4-5 pieces Dried Mushroom
- half piece Garlic
- 1 pack Bak Kut Teh soup
- 1.5 L Boiled Water
Seasonings
- 4 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Prepare all ingredients. Soak dried mushroom in water for 2hrs.
- Boil the pork ribs in boiling water for 15 minutes.
- Rinse the pork ribs with cold water.
- Prepare 1.5L boiled water in pot. Add the Bak Kut Teh soup pack and peeled Garlic gloves into the pot and stew for 30 minutes.Tips: Pat the garlic gloves beforehand to release the flavours.
- Add the pork ribs and mushrooms into the pot and cover it. Stew it with medium heat for another 1.5 hrs.
- Add all the seasonings into the pot. Then wow~ This warm and healthy "Tea" is ready to serve! 🙂
