Bak Kut Teh (Pork Bone Soup) (肉骨茶, Juk6 Gwat1 Caa4)

This recipe was updated on 30 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

I had this dish at my local Singapore/Malaysian restaurant. It was so good, I wanted to make it myself, and so I went to my local Asian market and found a prepared packet of spices to make this dish. As I read the recipes on the Internet for this dish, I realized that there is no one way and just about any ingredient can be used to make this dish. The package of spices I bought is actually made in Taiwan, so I’ll have to try other brands in the future and contrast the taste of the soups.

The literal translation of the Chinese name for this dish is meat bone tea. There’s no tea involved in making this dish and is commonly made with pork spareribs. I also saw recipes using cut-up chicken, which I would like to try using in the future. A whole rack of spareribs would be too much, so fortunately my supermarket sells portions of a rack which weigh about 2 lbs. (1 kg.). You need clean and parboil the cut up pork before cooking it in the soup so that the finished broth is clear.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

12	12	Dried Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated
2 lb.	1 kg.	Pork spareribs (排骨, paai4 gwat1), cut into pieces
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), lightly crushed
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), lightly crushed
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
6 cups	1.5 l.	Water to parboil the pork spareribs
1 package	1 package	Airplane brand Bak Kut Teh spices (肉骨茶, juk6 gwat1 caa4) or equivalent
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), lightly crushed
6 cloves	6 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), lightly crushed
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Rock sugar (冰糖, bing1 tong4) or sugar
¾ lb.	375 g.	Carrots (紅蘿蔔, hung4 lo4 baak6), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
¾ lb.	375 g.	Daikon (白蘿蔔, baak6 lo4 baak6), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
3 Tbs.	45 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
6 cups	1.5 l.	Water to make the soup

 

Equipment

8 qt.	7.5 L.	Pot
3.5 in.	9 cm.	Soak-out cooker to hold the spices

 

Airplane Brand Bak Kut Teh Spices
(肉骨茶, juk6 gwat1 caa4)

Instructions

1. Pour boiling water over the dried Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour or overnight.
2. Wash, clean, and cut the pork spareribs into individual pieces. Remove any excess fat from the pork spareribs. Remove the membrane from the back of the spareribs. I use my fingers or a small knife to poke under the membrane starting at the end with the largest rib bone and then pull the membrane the length of the spareribs towards the smaller bones. You usually have to do this in stages since the membrane doesn’t come off all at once and in one piece. Put the pork spareribs into a pot.
3. Lightly crush the ginger and garlic (no need to remove the garlic’s outside skin) and place them into the pot with the pork. Add the Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry to the pot. Add enough water to cover the pork in the pot. The pork spareribs will be parboiled to make the final soup clear.
4. Bring the uncovered pot to a boil over high heat and boil the pork spareribs for a few minutes. Turn off the heat and remove any scum or fat that rises to the surface of the water. Discard the water and then wash the pork under cold water to remove any other debris clinging to them. Remove the pork spareribs from the pot and set aside in a bowl. Clean the pot before cooking the soup.
5. Open the Airplane brand Bak Kut Teh spice package, or equivalent, and place all the spices into the soak-out cooker, except for the red dates, which are edible and can be placed directly into the pot. Lightly crush the ginger and garlic, and place them into the soak-out cooker together with the rock sugar. Place the soak-out cooker into the pot.
6. Wash and cut the carrots and daikon into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces. Put the Shiitake mushrooms, carrots, daikon, pork spareribs, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, and water into the pot. I also added the Shiitake mushroom rehydration liquid into the pot, but this is optional. Bring the uncovered pot to a boil over high heat, cover, and then reduce to a simmer over low heat for at least one hour. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve with steamed rice.