Bak kut teh

Name: Bak kut teh
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 105 min
Yield: 4 bowls
Cuisine: Singaporean
Ingredients: 1.2 kg Pork, meaty spare ribs or prime ribs, cut into single ribs; 3 head Garlic, whole heads, outer skin rubbed off, left unpeeled; 2 tbsp White pepper, whole peppercorns, coarsely cracked; 2.5 l Water; 2 tsp Salt; 1 tsp Sugar, rock sugar if you have it; 1 tbsp Soy sauce, light, for seasoning the broth at the end; 4 tbsp Dark soy sauce, for the dipping saucers; 2 piece Fresh chilli, red, sliced into the dipping soy; 300 g Rice, jasmine, steamed; 2 piece Spring onion, sliced; 150 g Lettuce, romaine, cut into pieces, dropped into the broth to serve

肉骨茶

Singapore's Teochew-style pork rib soup: a clear, fiercely peppery garlic broth served with rice, dark soy chilli and fried dough.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: 肉骨茶.

Start cooking

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 1 hr 30 min
Rest: None
Total: 1 hr 45 min
Difficulty: Easy
Spice: Medium heat
Cost: Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

About

Bak kut teh means meat bone tea, and the Singapore version is the clear Teochew style: pork ribs simmered with whole heads of garlic and a great deal of cracked white pepper until the meat slides off the bone and the broth is pale and sharp. There is no soy in the pot and no herbs; that is the dark Hokkien version across the causeway in Klang. Serve the ribs in their broth with rice, a saucer of dark soy with sliced chilli for dipping, and if you can get them, strips of fried dough stick to soak in the soup. Refill the bowl from the pot as you go. Strong Chinese tea alongside is part of the name.

What you'll need

12 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.

0 of 12 ready

4 servings

Ingredients
To serve

Ingredients

Servings

Ingredients

Pork, meaty spare ribs or prime ribs, cut into single ribs1.2 kg
Garlic, whole heads, outer skin rubbed off, left unpeeled3 head
White pepper, whole peppercorns, coarsely cracked30 ml
Water2½ l
Salt9.9 ml
Sugar, rock sugar if you have it4.9 ml
Soy sauce, light, for seasoning the broth at the end15 ml

To serve

Dark soy sauce, for the dipping saucers59 ml
Fresh chilli, red, sliced into the dipping soy2
Rice, jasmine, steamed300 g
Spring onion, sliced2
Lettuce, romaine, cut into pieces, dropped into the broth to serve (optional)150 g

Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.

Steps

Step 1
Blanch the ribs in boiling water for 3 minutes, drain and rinse off the scum. This keeps the broth clear.
5 min
Step 2
Crack the peppercorns coarsely in a mortar. Tie them in a square of muslin if you want to be able to fish them out; leave them loose for the real thing.
3 min
Step 3
Put the ribs, whole garlic heads, pepper, salt and sugar in the pot with the water. Bring to a boil, skim, and simmer uncovered at a low bubble for 75 to 90 minutes until the meat is tender but still on the bone.
85 min
Tip: Top up with boiling water if the level drops below the ribs. Taste at the hour mark; the pepper keeps building.
Step 4
Season the broth with light soy and more salt if needed. Drop in the lettuce for the last minute if using.
2 min
Step 5
Serve ribs and broth in deep bowls with spring onion on top. Give each person a saucer of dark soy with sliced chilli, a bowl of rice, and keep the pot on the stove for refills.
3 min
Watch: Garlic cloves slip out of their skins into the broth. They are meant to; eat them.

Nutrition

Per serving · estimate

Calories: 971 kcal
Protein: 91 g
Carbs: 46.4 g
Fat: 43.8 g
Saturated fat: 15.1 g
Fibre: 2.8 g
Sugar: 5.7 g
Sodium: 3571 mg

Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.

Allergens

Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.

Soy
Wheat

Dairy-free

Adapt this recipe

The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.

Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.

Substitutions

Pork ribs → Pork belly or shoulder in chunks
Less gelatine, same flavour. Cut cooking time by 15 minutes.

Tips

Fried dough sticks (youtiao) from a Chinese bakery, cut into pieces and dunked in the broth, are the traditional side.
Pepper heat is the point. If the broth only tastes of pork at the end, crack another tablespoon in and give it 10 minutes.
The broth can be made a day ahead. It is better reheated.

History & culture

A breakfast and late-night dish, eaten at open-fronted shophouses and hawker stalls with a pot of tea on the table. It was labourers' food and is now everyone's. Singaporeans take visitors to Balestier Road or Rangoon Road for it and do not apologise for the pepper. Some eat it to sweat out a cold.

Chinese port workers in nineteenth-century Malaya and Singapore are said to have cooked cheap pork bones with medicinal herbs for strength; the Hokkien version kept the herbs and dark soy, the Teochew version in Singapore stripped it back to garlic and pepper. Both communities claim the original, and Klang and Singapore still argue about it.

Regional variation — The clear peppery Teochew style of Singapore. Klang-style Hokkien bak kut teh is dark with soy and Chinese herbs and is a different pot.

Provenance: Editorial adaptation.

Questions about this recipe

Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.

How long does Bak kut teh take?

1 hr 45 min all in — 15 min prep, 1 hr 30 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.

How many does it serve?

The recipe is written for 4 bowls. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.

How hard is it?

Easy.

How spicy is it?

Medium heat.

What allergens should I watch?

This recipe is labelled for Soy, Wheat. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.

Does it fit a diet?

The published recipe is labelled Dairy-free.

11 more questions

What does it cost to cook?

Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.

What equipment do I need?

Stockpot, Mortar and pestle.

How much salt do I put in?

The recipe lists Salt at 2 tsp.

How much sugar?

1 tsp (rock sugar if you have it) of Sugar.

How much soy sauce?

1 tbsp (light, for seasoning the broth at the end) of Soy sauce.

How much dark soy sauce?

4 tbsp (for the dipping saucers) of Dark soy sauce.

What can I use instead?

Pork ribs → Pork belly or shoulder in chunks. Less gelatine, same flavour. Cut cooking time by 15 minutes.

What should I watch for?

Garlic cloves slip out of their skins into the broth. They are meant to; eat them.

Any tips from this recipe?

Fried dough sticks (youtiao) from a Chinese bakery, cut into pieces and dunked in the broth, are the traditional side. Pepper heat is the point. If the broth only tastes of pork at the end, crack another tablespoon in and give it 10 minutes. The broth can be made a day ahead. It is better reheated.

Can I prepare this ahead?

The broth can be made a day ahead. It is better reheated.

Can I use an air fryer?

This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.