I had this Dry Bak Kut Teh at a restaurant near my workplace not long ago and I thought it tasted very delicious except that it was a bit salty for my liking. Hence, I decided to make one for myself at home and indeed it was pretty good and I get to control the saltiness of it to my liking as well.
The only pity is that I should have used short spare ribs that has a good amount of fats rather than using the long ribs which has more lean meat. I realize the ribs which has more fats somehow has a more tender texture than the long ribs after the braising.
In fact, I also understand why the restaurant informed that I had to wait a good least of 20 minutes after I place the order as this dish has to be cooked to order, otherwise it will dried out and will not taste that good anymore. Unlike our normal bak kut teh, where you can cooked a huge pot of it and replenish the soup as and when you like, serving of this dish is fast too because everything is already pre-cooked.
The Dry Bak Kut Teh begs to differ. After simmering the ribs in the herbal soup stock till the soup is completely absorbed by the ribs, it has to be further stir fried with the seasonings and braised briefly till the flavours are immersed. It’s an additional step to the usual bak kut teh but for those desiring a different twist to the soupy version, this dry one makes a good alternative.
Perfect fit for white rice as a companion, the dry Bak Kut Teh does has its perks especially when the weather is warm and peppery hot soup might not make an ideal food choice.
Hope everyone will like this dish too !
Get your fresh pork ribs from PurelyFresh online to serve up this dish today ! Enjoy !!
Dry Bak Kut Teh 干烧肉骨茶
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Chinese
Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 500g short spare ribs
- 10-12 pcs dried chillies (soaked till soft and de-seed)
- 3-4 stalks of spring onion (the white parts only, diced the green parts for garnishing.)
- 1 pkt herbal bak kut teh spices
- 10 pcs of whole garlics, with skin on
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp light soya sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soya sauce
- 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1.3L water
- ½ tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sweet soya sauce (kecap manis)
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
- 3 tbsp water
- Seasonings during Stir Frying:
Instructions
Blanch the pork ribs in some boiling water until they turn white in colour.
Drain the pork ribs and rinse them briefly with tap water.
Add the pork ribs to a deep pot with the water, whole garlics, pack of herbal bak kut teh spice and add 1 tbsp each of light soya sauce, dark soya sauce and shaoxing wine, ½ tsp sugar and ¼ tsp pepper. Cook the soup till it boils before lowering the heat to low and allow it to further simmer without covering the pot, till the water is dried up. (When the water is minimal already, keep a watch on the pork ribs by stirring it to prevent burning out.)
Heat up another wok with 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Stir fried the minced garlic, white parts of the spring onion and dried chillies till aromatic.
Add in the pork ribs from Step 3 and stir to mix well. Add in all the seasonings except the water and shaoxing wine.
Add in the water and allow the pork ribs to simmer briefly before adding the shaoxing wine. Test whether the pork ribs is to your desired tenderness. If not, you can add somemore water and simmer longer. Once done, off the flame.
Garnish with diced spring onion as desired and served hot immediately.
