Nothing beats making this special soup from my hometown as it really warms up your body and soul when the weather outside is cold and frosty like today ....bat kut teh means literally "meat bone tea" in Hokkien or Teochew and it is actually meaty pork ribs simmered with some chinese herbs and spices including star anise , cinnamon sticks, cloves , dang gui and goji berries, garlic...for hours..... However, there are other additional ingredients such as chinese mushrooms and deep fried tofu puffs or pieces firm tofu if you like .... there are other additional chinese herbs yu zhu (rhizome of Solomon's Seal) and ju zhi (buckthorn fruit), which give the soup a sweeter, slightly stronger flavor...Chinese tea of various kind is usually served with this dish as it is meant to wash down the amount of fat consumed from this fatty pork dish.
According to the most plausible version of the story, bak kut teh was invented by a gentleman from Quanzhou of the Fujian province in China.The secret recipe was passed to a friend who later went to Klang and became the first person to commercialise and sell Bak Kut Teh. The dish went on to become a famous dish and was copied and improved many times over. So according to this version the Hokkiens were the inventors of the dish. The Teochews came later and the main visual difference between the Hokkien and Teochew version of Bak Kut Teh is that the Hokkiens use dark soy sauce and thus the soup base is characteristically darker in colour. It is up to the individual's taste buds which one tastes better.
According to the most plausible version of the story, bak kut teh was invented by a gentleman from Quanzhou of the Fujian province in China.The secret recipe was passed to a friend who later went to Klang and became the first person to commercialise and sell Bak Kut Teh. The dish went on to become a famous dish and was copied and improved many times over. So according to this version the Hokkiens were the inventors of the dish. The Teochews came later and the main visual difference between the Hokkien and Teochew version of Bak Kut Teh is that the Hokkiens use dark soy sauce and thus the soup base is characteristically darker in colour. It is up to the individual's taste buds which one tastes better.
My version of bat kut teh is a twisted simpler and lighter version and it can be made without the chinese herbs and it is less fatty as I use lean pork side ribs and some lean pork to cook.I hope that you would like this dish as much as my dearest hubby loves it...
Bat Kut Teh
Ingredients:
1 lb lean pork side ribs
1 1b lean pork - cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsps dark soya sauce
5 cups water
4 star anise
3 cinnamon stick
10 whole cloves of garlic
1 firm tofu - cut into 12 squares
4 hard boiled eggs
6 oz dried chinese wolfberries / goji berries (from chinese medicine shop) - optional
To garnish : a few sprigs of fresh cilantro
Method:
Clean and cut the pork ribs and lean pork to smaller pieces, marinade them with salt, black pepper in the fridge for at least 6 hours. Bring a large Dutch oven pot filled with some water to boil. Add the dried chinese wolfberries(goji berries), cinnamon stick, star anise , whole garlic, light soya sauce,dark soya sauce , firm tofu , hard boiled eggs and the pork into the pot when the water is boiling. Stir a little and then bring it to a boil again and then lower the heat to simmer for 2 hours. Garnish with some cilantro and serve hot with some cooked rice or noodles.
Note: Goji berries makes the soup tastes sweeter....
1 1b lean pork - cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp light soya sauce
2 tbsps light soya sauce 2 tbsps dark soya sauce
5 cups water
4 star anise
3 cinnamon stick
10 whole cloves of garlic
1 firm tofu - cut into 12 squares
4 hard boiled eggs
6 oz dried chinese wolfberries / goji berries (from chinese medicine shop) - optional
To garnish : a few sprigs of fresh cilantro
Method:
Clean and cut the pork ribs and lean pork to smaller pieces, marinade them with salt, black pepper in the fridge for at least 6 hours. Bring a large Dutch oven pot filled with some water to boil. Add the dried chinese wolfberries(goji berries), cinnamon stick, star anise , whole garlic, light soya sauce,dark soya sauce , firm tofu , hard boiled eggs and the pork into the pot when the water is boiling. Stir a little and then bring it to a boil again and then lower the heat to simmer for 2 hours. Garnish with some cilantro and serve hot with some cooked rice or noodles.
Note: Goji berries makes the soup tastes sweeter....
Lattara's Bat Kut Teh