Bedok Corner is not all about Malay food, of course. Right across from the Muslim stalls is probably one of the most non-halal of Chinese dishes - bak kut teh (pork bone tea) and pig organ soup. But warm soup is great for a cold, rainy day. And interestingly, this hawker seems to offer the Hokkien-style broth, which is darker (from use of soy sauce) and less commonly available than the Teochew counterpart which is clear and peppery. Hmmm, you could call Hokkien-style bak kut teh the shoyu version and Teochew-style the shio version! Sorry, my mind is too much on ramen these days!
I was very pleased to be given lots of soft bones in the ribs. These were boiled until just right, soft enough but still with bite. The broth however was a little too pallid for my taste. When I cook my own bak kut teh (it is the easiest soup ever to make, really), I load it up with tons of garlic and pepper. This stall serves chili padi (bird's eye chilies) and thick, dark soy sauce as condiments, so I dumped a good measure of chili padi into the soup for a stronger kick. This claypot set above, with the dough fritters and rice cost S$5.50 - for the price, the portion is reasonably generous.
Overall, not the best BKT around but it'll do in a pinch.
It looks like the stall won some TV award too but I won't hold that against them.
TRADITIONAL BAK KUT TEH - PIG ORGAN'S SOUP - KWAY CHAP
Stall no.19, Bedok Corner Food Centre
have u tried the pizza & pasta stall there? i kinda like the pizzas. quite value for money too =)
ReplyDeleteNo wonder, it looks like Malaysian bak kut teh! We like it dark with more herbal taste. :)
ReplyDeletereychen: ah, I saw some Caucasian kids eating the pizza there. Saw the stall too, looks like halal pasta and pizza.
ReplyDeleteLCOM: yeah, I prefer it that way too!
Great blog here!
ReplyDeleteYou know something interesting; as a 'caucasian' in Singapore, it is very seldom that people take me to these secret hawker stalls. Perhaps they are under the impression that I prefer to eat hot dogs or some other pseudo-western food that 'you guys' all assume we eat.
Either that, or you're keeping these little secret gems all to yourselves... Admit it! :)
Hi Mark, thanks for visiting. :) Oh 'we guys' used to proudly bring 'you guys' to our hawker stalls but 'you guys' cried after eating our chili, raised eyebrows in horror at fish heads or fish presented whole (head, fins and tails) and fainted after we gave you durian and belachan! lol
ReplyDeleteWe were deeply ashamed and thus decided our hawker stalls were not worthy. teehee!
I like it deep, dark and herbal myself. And with lots of fresh garlic and chili padi to!
ReplyDeleteLOL about your comment that Hokkien-style is "shoyu" while Teochew is "shio".
Hm, I wouldn't mind having some Bak Kut Teh shoyu ramen, actually.