Lessons learnt from Bak Kut Teh

I became a Bak Kut Teh fan about ten years ago when I travelled to Kuala Lumpur on business quite frequently. If it was a meeting in KL and the big boss was also attending, we would all be having Bak Kut Teh for breakfast. Yes, for breakfast! My boss has his diet plan that if he takes vegetables, it would all be vegetables. He does not take vegetables with meat. So, if he decides that today he wants to take vegetables, the Bak Kut Teh will be served with plenty of vegetables in the soup and we hardly could fish any pork out. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the boss seemed to be on a vegetable diet on our Bak Kut Teh's rounds.

With Bak Kut Teh, I have learnt "who is the boss".

Then, we would be hearing from an old senior manager over and over again this trivia. Where is the origin of Bak Kut Teh? Malaysian dish? Or Singaporean may beg to differ. Klang? This senior manager said according to the most plausible version of the story is that Bak Kut Teh was invented by a gentleman from Quangzhou in China. The recipe (secret, of course) was passed to a friend who later went to Klang and became the first person to commercialise and sell Bak Kut Teh. Over the years, it must have copied or improved.

With Bak Kut Teh, I have learnt when a senior tells a story, even if you have heard it many times, you have to pretend you have never heard that before! Even the boss listens!

That's how Bak Kut Teh came into my life!

Because Ilene asked for it (well, a good excuse), I went to the shop just a street away from my office yesterday evening. I could not decide whether to take spare ribs or the stomach and intestines. No mixed order is allowed. I looked at the next table and saw that the bowl is quite small. So I ordered both! I had it to my heart content, though I ate alone! But never quite alone, there were so many others around and I enjoyed looking at people!

It's certainly the best Bak Kut Teh I have ever taken. The soup is flavourful. The meat (four pieces) is tender and sort of melts in the mouth. The intestines and stomach (aplenty!) are just well done!

I am not a food reviewer, so it's natural for me to forget to look at the name of the shop! It's along Gaya Street. It's behind Maybank. You'll get there - just like my colleague said, "You won't miss it. Just follow the aroma of the herbs!"

The price? It's RM13.50. I am pretty happy to part with that amount for that hearty meal!

The price to pay? A 6 km run on the treadmill this early morning!

Just in case a visitor stumbled into my blog and does not know what is Bak Kut Teh 肉骨茶. Here is from wikipedia - "The name literally translates as "meat bone tea", and, at its simplest, consists of meaty pork ribs in a complex broth of herbs and spices (including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui, and garlic), boiled together with pork bones for hours. However, additional ingredients may include offal, varieties of mushroom, lettuce, and pieces of dried tofu. Light and dark soy sauce are also added to the soup during cooking, with varying amounts depending on the variant. "