Dry Bak Kut Teh

With a slight spiciness and fragrant from the fried cuttlefish, this dish has become very popular. You can easily take up a few bowls of rice just the gravy of this dish. Unlike normal Bak Kut Teh soup where there is a strong taste of herb, dry Bak Kut Teh is much milder. 

You may adjust the spiciness by varying the amount of chili, and personally feels that higher level of chili will enhance the taste but you have to control if you cook for kids. In my recipe, I have added extra ladies finger since this is my kids' favorite.

Ingredients

1 kg prime ribs

1/2 pig stomach, optional

1 tbsp. light soya sauce

2 tbsp. oyster sauce (optional)

2 tbsp. dark soya sauce

1 big garlic, with skin
1 packet of 

1/2 packet of A1 Brand Bak Kut Teh herbs

5 cloves of garlic, smashed with skin intact

1 tbsp. brown sugar

5-8 pieces of dried chilies, cut into 5mm length

10 lady fingers, cut into slices
2-3 pieces of fried bean curd

10 g of dried cuttlefish strips
1 tbsp corn starch mixed with some water

To prepare the meat and stomach

1. Boil a lot of water to blanch the prime ribs for around 10-15 seconds until the exterior just turns pale. Drain and set aside.

2. For the stomach, you have to clean with lemon juice and salt both internal and external of the organ. Since the butcher has cleaned for me, it takes less effort for me to clean. Soak with lemon juice and salt for around 10 minutes and clean for at least 2 times or until there is no more smell. If the smell still persist, continue to clean. Rinse and set aside.

3. To a large pot, add in 1 liter of water. Once the water is boiling, add in Bak Kut Teh herbs, garlic, dark and light soya sauce. Turn the heat to medium low flame and let it boil for around 5 minutes before adding in the ribs and stomach. This is to allow the flavor of the herbs to infuse into the water. For the heat, it is always important to make sure that the water is bubbling so that the herbs can penetrate into the meat. With this, the meat will taste better.

4. The stomach normally  cooks faster than the ribs (normally 20-30 minutes). You may test the stomach readiness by using a chopstick. Once the chopstick can penetrate through the stomach's wall, the stomach is ready and can remove from the pot. Cut into 1 cm strips and set aside.

5. Continue for the ribs as ribs need more time to cook. Cooks for 40 minutes or until the ribs and stomach are soft. Remove from pot and set aside.


Final cooking
6. In a wok, add some oil, dried the dried cuttlefish strips until crispy. Remove and set aside.

7. Using the same wok, add in some oil, dried chilies and lady fingers.
8. Stir fry using high flame for around 30 second.
9. Add in all the ribs and stomach. Stir before adding in around 200 ml of Bak Kut Teh soup.
10. Stir the ingredient evenly and add in fried bean curd. Let the bean curd to absorb the sauce and soften. Finish up the dish by adding in the cuttlefish. Stir and thicken the sauce by using corn starch water.