Joo Siah Bak Kut Teh

Some time back, I did a quick little food trail in the far West of Singapore. The wild frontiers have been pushed back by urbanisation, so there's actually quite a few good eats in this part of town.

One of the famous hawker eats here is Joo Siah Bak Kut Teh in Jurong West. By now, most people know that this is the fruit of an engineer who learned the trade from his brother-in-law in Sin Ming and started his own stall here. He's been very successful for 20-odd years now.






We ordered the regular pork ribs (only S$4) with a few other dishes. They use fairly good quality rice (not the cheaper, broken type). And the dark soy sauce is nicely thick and rich. I can sometimes just eat that drizzled over rice.



The pork ribs are done Teochew style, in a garlicky and peppery broth. It was not bad, but personally I prefer much more pepper in my bak kut teh (I think I've probably been putting too much at home, when I cook it myself).



But just like at Founder's, the star of the day was the braised pork trotters. It is such a generous portion too for S$4! The trotters have been braised so well, the meat is meltingly tender, and even the skin seems to be devoid of excess fat. You don't get the "jelak" feeling at all - we totally indulged in guilt-free gluttony!




Some preserved vegetables (S$1) to go with the meal. Nicely done, not too sweet.

In all, I think Joo Siah serves good value at those prices. The bak kut teh is less intense than I expected, but the pork trotters are worth coming back for.


JOO SIAH BAK KUT TEH
Blk 347 Jurong East Ave 1
#01-220 Yuehua Market & Hawker Centre
Singapore 600347
Open Tue–Sat: 8.45am – 8pm
Sun: 8.45am – 4pm
(Closed on Mon)