bak kuh teh (herb soup with pork ribs)

Bak kuh teh is a popular dish in Singapore/Malaysia. It's comfort food for many people because of warm soup and meaty pork ribs. There are different kinds of bak kuh teh - some are more pepper-ish, some got more herb-y taste. It usually comes in a convenient packet, so it's very easy to prepare. You live outside of Malaysia/Singapore? No worries. You can get the packet for $3.40 at 100Plus Asian Market. :) 

Ingredients:

Pork ribs - 1 lbs
Garlic - 12 cloves (with skin)
water - 1.5L 

Bak kuh teh packet - 1
Bok choy - 4 pieces 

[Pork ribs marinade]
Dark soy sauce - 3 TBS
Salt & Pepper - 1 tsp each 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prep:

1. Even though it's not necessary, I personally like to marinade meat for soup. So combine the meat with the pork ribs marinade. Let it sit for 20-30 minutes. 
2. Separate garlic into individual cloves, but skin intact.
3. Cut the stem off bok choy, separate and washed. 

Marinaded pork ribs

I used two packets (double the recipe)

Cook: 

1. In a large pot,  bring 1.5L water to boil. Add in bak kuh teh packet and garlic and boil for couple of minutes.
2. Add in marinated meat. Let it cook for 30-35 minutes. 
3. Taste the soup after 35 minutes and adjust the taste. Leave the packet inside the pot (the longer you put in, the soup will be more herb-y taste). 
4. Couple of minutes before serving, add in bok choy veggies in the pot. Let it cook for 1-2 minutes.

Serve: 

1. Serve in a bowl, and eat with rice. Drink up the awesome soup!
2. It's usually eaten with yu tiao (Chinese style donut). You can eat with noodles, too.

TIPS

• If you don't like the taste of the soup, try another brand. Different brand have different taste. When we made ours, we combined the two brands and it turned out great. 
• You can also put other ingredients like shiitake mushrooms.