Pork Spare Rib Soup (Bah Kut Teh)
Bah kut teh (literally, "spare rib tea") is a Hokkien specialty. It is an exotic herbal soup spiced with plenty of aromatic spices including star anise, cinnamon, cloves and lots of garlic. It is often served with Chinese doughnuts and goes well with white rice. It usually comes with a small serve of cut red chillies in dark soy sauce or garlic.
- Prep
- 24 min
- Cook
- 55 min
- Total
- 1 hr 19 min
- Servings
- As written in source
- Difficulty
- Medium
Timings are approximate — worked out from the method, not measured in a test kitchen.
Ingredients
Quantities are retained as written by the source and do not scale automatically. Tap an ingredient to check it off as you go.
Cooking instructions
Procedure
Soak dried shitake mushrooms in 240 ml boiling water to reconstitute. Slice into strips when soft; reserve liquid for cooking.
Procedure
In a stockpot, cover spareribs with cold water, then parboil ribs until froth rises to the surface.
Procedure
Drain, briefly rinse spareribs under cold running water, and drain again.
Procedure
In a casserole pan add the parboiled spare ribs, garlic bulb, ginseng root, shitake mushrooms, reserved liquid and additional water (to cover the meat).
Procedure
Wrap cinnamon, star anise, white and black peppercorns in cheesecloth, tie with string, and add to the pan.
Procedure
Gradually bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to simmer until pork is very tender (about 45–60 minutes); occasionally skim off fat from the surface.
Procedure
When the meat is almost falling off the bones; discard spice bag, season with salt and pepper and add dark soy sauce and sugar.
Photo: Fuyong127 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 · Photo source and licence
Wikibooks contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Adapted; quantities retained as written. · Original source
Read it through first
Skim all 7 steps before you start — it is the difference between cooking and firefighting.
Scale it
Use the quantities listed in the original recipe. Adjust them manually if making a different batch size.
Storage
Cool completely, then keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating
Reheat gently with a splash of water in a covered pan, rather than blasting it, so nothing dries out.
Approximate values per serving. Worked out from the ingredient list — treat them as a guide, not a measurement.
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