It wasn't until I was in Geneva when my friends prepared Bak Kut Teh that I realised I haven't eaten this in years. Don't ask me why cos this is one of my favorites - I could have this as breakfast (the French would probably faint if I told them this), lunch or dinner.
So right after I came back, I dug up my packets of Bak Kut Teh mixes (don't roll your eyes at me, doesn't everybody use pre-mix for their BKT) & promptly made myself some. There are 2 kinds of BKT - the herbal version (which I had in Geneva) & the peppery version (which was what I had). I like them both.
The packet asked for 2 garlic & even tho I read both the English & Chinese instructions, they didn't specify whether it was whole head of garlic or cloves. 2 whole seem too many & 2 cloves seem too little - don't you hate it when instructions are ambigious but in this case, it's no biggie - I just decided how much I would add.
Dug up some ribs from the freezer - they were a little big & meant for BBQ but I was too lazy to run to the supermarket just to buy some so they would do (in fact they turned out great). Dumped them into the soup with the packet of herbs & spices & boiled for an hour. Cut up some red chillies with black soy sauce, cooked some rice & that was all I needed to do.
Even The Girl had 2nd & 3rd helpings of the soup & ribs which really surprised me. I had some fish fingers on stand by just in case the soup was a little too strong for her (it was the first time she was trying it). We were both really happy with dinner & I particularly liked it with my glass of chilled Grenache.
So right after I came back, I dug up my packets of Bak Kut Teh mixes (don't roll your eyes at me, doesn't everybody use pre-mix for their BKT) & promptly made myself some. There are 2 kinds of BKT - the herbal version (which I had in Geneva) & the peppery version (which was what I had). I like them both.
The packet asked for 2 garlic & even tho I read both the English & Chinese instructions, they didn't specify whether it was whole head of garlic or cloves. 2 whole seem too many & 2 cloves seem too little - don't you hate it when instructions are ambigious but in this case, it's no biggie - I just decided how much I would add.
Dug up some ribs from the freezer - they were a little big & meant for BBQ but I was too lazy to run to the supermarket just to buy some so they would do (in fact they turned out great). Dumped them into the soup with the packet of herbs & spices & boiled for an hour. Cut up some red chillies with black soy sauce, cooked some rice & that was all I needed to do.
Even The Girl had 2nd & 3rd helpings of the soup & ribs which really surprised me. I had some fish fingers on stand by just in case the soup was a little too strong for her (it was the first time she was trying it). We were both really happy with dinner & I particularly liked it with my glass of chilled Grenache.
2 comments:
Hey everyone in my family loves Bah Kut Teh so I usually make it at least once a month. I've tried doing it from scratch and honestly didn't see much difference from the pre-mixes (but must be good brand like Claypot or A1).
I also prefer the Hokkien version which is stronger and uses dark soy sauce. I usually use 6-8 cloves of whole garlic and never add in any sauces or salt till the soup is ready. To have a cleaner soup, best to add in the meat only when the water is boiling and this way the meat will also retain most of its flavour.
You just mentioned the 2 brands that I tried - A1 was the one my friends used (herbal) & Claypot's the one I have (peppery). They are good.
Thanks for the tip on getting a cleaner soup. I can't wait for X to come home to let him try it. Don't know why it took me so long.
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