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.

Bak Kut Teh - Chinese Herbal Broth with Pork Ribs 肉骨茶

On the way back from my Vietnam trip, I was attracted by the Bak Kut Teh dish in a magazine and since then, I  have been craving it a lot. At first, I thought of cooking this dish from scratch and after searching through the website, I gave up and turn back using the commercial A1 Bak Kut Teh. This is because I could not wait anymore!!!!

Bak Kut Teh or literally 'meat bone tea' is a very famous Chinese Malaysian dish and is a must-try for tourists and also a much-loved dish by the locals. Bak Kut Teh is essentially pork ribs cooked in a rich, savoury and fragrant herbal broth - it can be as simple as just the ribs in the broth/ soup or made more balanced with the addition of dried tofu, mushrooms and some vegetables of your choice. The main dish with the ribs and soup are usually served with Chinese doughnuts (you tiao) and rice. Normally, we will have this dish with Chinese Tea as we believe that the Chinese Tea will 'wash' away all the oil.

Since we are having pot luck party tonight, I am taking this opportunity to prepare Dry Bak Kut Teh for the guest. So, my family will have Bak Kut Teh soup for lunch and dry version for the dinner.

Ingredients:
1.5kg prime ribs (肋排)

1 pork stomach (猪肚), optional

6-8 pieces of Chinese mushroom, soaked until soft and cut half

25g of Yu Zhu (玉竹)(Solomon's Seal Rhizome), optional

1 packet of ready packed Bak Kut Teh herbs, (Brand A1)

1 tsp of peppercorn, crushed
2-3 whole garlics, with skin intact

2 liter of water

5-6 pcs of fried bean curd skin, cut into shorter strips

Seasoning

2 tbsp. of dark soya sauce

2 tbsp. of oyster sauce

4 tbsp. of light soya sauce

pinch of salt

Others

Cooked rice (Add some fried shallots into rice cooker and cook rice as usual)

Chopped red chilli and garlic with light soya sauce as a dip
2-3 deep fried 油条 youtiao aka chinese dough frittersCoriander, garnishing

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 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 no more smell. If the smell still persist, continue to clean. Rinse and set aside.

3. Rinse Yu Zhu and crush peppercorn. Set aside.

4. To a large pot, add in 2 liter of water. Once it is boiling, add in Bak Kut Teh packet herbs, YuZhu and peppercorn. Add in 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. This is to allow the flavor of the herbs to infuse into the water.

5. Add in garlic, mushroom, ribs and stomach. Bring to boil again before lower to medium low flame. The heat control is very important. 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.

6. 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 easily penetrate through the stomach's wall, the stomach is ready and can remove from the pot. Cut into 1 cm strips.

7. Depending on your preference, you may start to test the ribs softness from 40 minutes onwards. My family prefer a tender and softer texture, thus I will normally cook for at least 50-60 minutes. Season with oyster sauce and salt. Add in the fried bean curd skin. Off the heat once it is done.

8. Ladle some soup into a smaller small pot to cook beancurd puff. Cook for around 5-10 minutes until they are soft. Do not cook beancurd puff directly into the big pot as the beancurd flavor will overtake the whole Bak Kut Teh flavor.  

9. Serve Bak Kut Teh with chunks of you tiao, chopped chili and cooked rice.

Braised Potato with Pork Knuckle

This is a surprised dish for my friends during this Nasi Lemak feast gathering. Instead of cooking spicy dishes to match with today's theme, I am planning to cook something that is totally not spicy. The reason I am preparing this dish is because 40% of the guests are kids and I do not think the kids can enjoy the spicy food for today's theme.

This dish is originated from my grandma and passed down to my mom and now to me. That is the reason, you hardly see this dish on menu.

As usual, the freshness and cleanliness of the knuckle is really important. Since it takes longer time to braise the knuckle, I have to prepare this dish as early as possible in order to get ready by 11 am. I went to the wet market early in the morning to buy a knuckle and reminded the butcher to clean it thoroughly including removing the hair properly. On top of that, I also requested the butcher to cut the knuckle in small pieces so that it takes shorter time to soft. Am I a fussy customer?

The first thing I do is to boil a pot of hot water to blanch the knuckle to remove the blood and dirt. I would say, the most challenging part in cooking this dish is the cleaning steps. The cooking step is quite straight forward especially when it comes to braise method.

To cook this dish, you will only need bean paste, garlic, onion, cinnamon stick, ginger and potatoes. That's all!!! Isn't it easy?? After you fry the ingredients until fragrant, put in the knuckle and continue to fry a bit before adding in water to braise the knuckle until it is soft. After that, adding in potatoes and continue to cook until potatoes are soft and the gravy becomes a bit thickening.


Ingredients
1 pork knuckle (around 1-1.5 kg), removed hair, cut into small pieces
5 cloves of garlic, minced
5 shallots, minced
2 cm ginger, minced
5 cm cinnamon stick
3 tbsp of bean paste
sugar to taste
2 tbsp of oil
5 potatoes, cut into 4 pieces
Sufficient water


1. Boil a pot of hot water to blanch the knuckle. This step is really important to remove any blood and dirt in the knuckle. Blanch for around 1 minute and then remove from the pot. Keep aside.

2. Minced all the ingredient together; shallots, garlic, ginger and bean paste. 

                   

3. Heat up a pot. Add in oil and then the bean paste together with all the minced shallots, garlic and ginger. Using low heat, stir fry the ingredient until fragrant. The oil may dry up. Do not worry as we add in the knuckle and fat from knuckle will flow out later.

4. Then, add in the knuckle and continue to stir fry until all the knuckle pieces are being covered with the bean paste. Add in 1 liter of water and let the knuckle to braise using low heat. Add in the cinnamon stick at this stage.

5. Continue the braise the knuckle until it is partly soft. Normally, it takes around 30 minutes. After that, add in the potatoes and continue to braise until potatoes are soft. Let some of the potatoes to melt and give thicken the gravy before turn off the heat. You may add in some sugar to give a better taste.

Sweet and Sour Pork Chop

Last night, before I went to bed, my son requested me to prepare pork chop for lunch. Since this is a request from my beloved son and to keep the promise, I woke up really early to the market to get the best pork chop from the stall. I went to the butcher directly and bought 4 thin slices of pork chop. I would prefer a thin slice which is around 1 cm thick as it is easier to cook.

My mom ever told me the secret to tenderize the chops is to 'hit' and 'slap' the chops. In order to make the chops tender and soft, the meat needs to hit with the back of the knife. After hitting both sides, the meat should be slapped with the side of the knife. Each side of the meat should be slapped for at least two times. This process is very important to tenderize the meat without using any chemical.

After the hitting and slapping steps, the meat is ready to marinate. Marinate with sesame oil, salt and pepper in order to enhance the meat flavor. Marinate for at least 30 minutes before pan frying the meat using low heat. Arrange the chops in the pan with the thickest, boniest parts towards the center of the pan where they get the most heat. Sear the chops, about 2 minutes on each side. Watch carefully, as soon as the chops are browned, flip them and once both are ready, you can turn off the heat. Since, this meat will later braise with some sauce, it is fine if it is still uncooked.

While waiting for the meat, you may prepare the sauce. The sauce is prepared by mixing the ketchup, plum sauce and a little bit of sugar. Do not add in water as this will dilute the sauce.

Other than having a good pork chop, onion is also another important ingredient. Pan fry the onion slices until translucent before adding in the chops. This will bring the onion flavor into the meat. Continue to stir fry until the meat is cooked. You may add in some water if the pan is too dry and let it braise a while.

Once the meat is cooked, stir in the sauce and continue to stir fry until the sauce is dried up. You may serve this dish with warm rice.

Ingredients:
Pork chops
4 thin slices of pork chops, hit and slapped with the knife
1 tbsp sesame oil
salt to taste
pinch of pepper

3 tbsp of custard flour
1 tbsp of corn flour
sufficient oil for searing

Sauce
3 tbsp ketchup
3 tbsp plum sauce
1 tbsp sugar


1. To prepare the meat, use a back of the knife to hit both sides of the meat. After that, use  the side of the knife to slap the meat for at least two time on each side. These steps will tenderize the meat even without using any chemical.

2. After the tenderizing steps, the chops have to marinate with some salt, pepper and sesame oil for 30 minutes. Just before searing, coat the meat with custard and corn flour.

3. Heat up the pan to medium or high heat (hot enough to sear the meat). Once the pan is hot, add a teaspoon of oil or fat to the pan and coat the bottom of the pan. Put the chops in the pan. Make sure they are not crowding each other too much. There should be space between the chops in the pan or the meat will steam and not sear properly. Sear the chops, about 2 minutes on each side. Watch carefully, as soon as the chops are browned, flip them and once both are ready, you can turn off the heat. Since, this meat will braise later, it is fine if it is still uncooked.

4. Remove from the pan and cut into small slices.

5. In the mean time, prepare the ketchup sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredient together.

6. Heat up the wok and add in a teaspoon of oil. Then, add in the onion and stir fry until the onion is translucent. Add in the small pieces of chops and continue to stir fry. Add in some water and let the meat to braise until the meat is cooked.

7. Once the meat is cooked, add in the sauce mixture and continue to cook until the meat absorb all the sauce. Let the sauce thicken before remove from the pan.

Braised Sea Cucumber with Pork Ribs

It is Chinese New Year and this year, it is a meaning year for me as I have a chance to cook for my family as well as my husband's family. Besides steamboat, I also prepared Sarawak Laksa for my family. I was trying something new and light so that we are not always stuffed with food!

Since my dad is quite a 'tradition' person, my mom did make his favorite dish, braised sea cucumber with pork knuckle. As for myself who does not really like knuckle, I modify the recipe by replacing the knuckle with pork ribs. The results turns out really good especially if you are a health conscious person as pork ribs do not give as much fat as knuckle.

Besides the ribs, I also add in some dry scallops to bring up the taste of this dish. Scallops need to wash and soak overnight. Keep the water so that you can use it to braise the ribs. Mushrooms also need to soak over night. You may soak the fish maw until they are soft before braising them with sea cucumber. Since I am a lazy person, I did not soak the fish maw. Instead, I braise directly with the pork ribs. I find out the taste of the fish maw is better if I braise directly with pork ribs as the fish maw tends to absorb the sauce of the gravy.

The only step that you need to take note is the time to put in sea cucumber. It is to make sure that the ribs are soft before adding in the sea cucumber. Sea cucumber takes shorter time to braise, normally I will take another 30 minutes. It is all depending on your taste buds.

Last but not least is the ginger. I will normally marinate the ribs, mushroom and sea cucumber with some ginger juice for around 30 minutes before cooking.

Ingredients

300g pork ribs

600g of sea cucmber

2 cloves of garlic ( do not mince)

10 pieces of mushrooms, soak overnight

3 pieces of dry scallops, wash and soak overnight. Keep the water

3 pieces of fish maw

Black moss, soaks with water

4 tbsp of ginger juice

1 carrot, cut into slices

Light soya sauce to taste

Salt to taste

2 tbsp cooking oil

Water

1. Marinate the pork ribs, mushroom and sea cucumber with 1 tbsp of ginger juice respectively for 30 minutes.

2. Heat up 1 tbsp cooking oil, stir fry mushroom and add in some salt to taste. Stir fry for a minute and set aside.

3. Using the same pan, heat up 1 tbsp oil. Add in garlic (with skin) and fry till fragrant.

4. Add in ribs and stir fry till the outer layer of ribs is cooked. Add in water just to cover the ribs for braising. 

5. When the water is boiling, add in dry scallops and its water. Add in also fish maw and mushroom. Keep stirring the fish maw until the fish maw is soft and soak into the gravy. Let them braised until the ribs is soft. It normally takes around 30-45 minutes depending on the size of the ribs. You may add in some water if the water dries up.

6. When the ribs is soft, add in sea cucumber and carrot. Continue braise for another 15-30 minutes until you get the desire softness for the sea cucumber. 

7. Finally, add in the black moss. Wait for another 1 minute before taste with soya sauce and turn off fire. 

NOTE: You may add in oyster sauce in order to get stronger flavor. 

Taiwan Braised Pork Rice 'Lu Rou Fan' (滷肉飯)

This is a street food that you can easily find in Taiwan street. This is one of my kids' favourite due to the sweetness of the gravy. The preparation of this dish is quite easy but the cooking time is a bit longer. It needs at least one and a half hour to braise until the meat it soft. In order to make sure that the fat does not collapse during cooking, I have used this practice: 15 min boiling and then, 15 min off fire. Repeat this steps until the meat is soft and tender. I do understand that this step is a bit tedious, but it is worth when you see a perfect dish is served.

Another secret of this dish is to have wine in this dish. The presence of rice wine will bring back all the fragrant of the spices. On top of that, with the rice wine being added during cooking, this will reduce the cooking time of the meat.

As for sugar, it is important to use rock sugar as this sugar will give a different sweetness as compare with normal granulate sugar. It may due to the different ingredient and processes to make these sugar.

Although this dish takes quite long to cook, but the effort is worthwhile especially when you see how much your family love this dish.

Happy Cooking!

Ingredients

400g pork belly

4 cm of cinnamon

5 pieces of cloves
2 pieces of star anise
4 cloves of garlic
4 shallots
Light soya sauce to taste
Dark soya sauce for the color (optional)
100ml Chinese rice wine
Rock sugar to taste
Water to cover the meat (around 250ml)

1. Mince the garlic and onion in small pieces.
2. Cut the pork belly into 1cmx1cm size.
3. Heat up the wok and stir fry the pork belly. Do not put in any oil. Let the oil or juice from the meat flow out. You may adjust the fire accordingly if the fire is too high.
4. When the outer layer of the meat is cooked, put in rock sugar and cook till the rock sugar melts and wrap the meat. This is important is the caramel will enhance the color and taste of the meat.
5. Add in minced garlic and onion. Stir fry for around 2 minutes.
6. Then, add in light soya sauce, dark soya sauce and 500ml of rice wine. Stir fry around 1 minute before adding in all the cloves, star anise and cinnamon.
7. Add in sufficient water to cover the meat and braise for 1.30 hour or until the meat is tender. Try not to add water in between unless the water dries up.
8. Once the meat is tender add in the entire wine and cook for 2 minute.
9. You may serve with hot rice.