Category: Recipes

This is a recipe for a classic Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese soup.  The name literally translates into "pork bone tea," but it’s better if you think about it as "pork ribs soup".  It’s really good and has an interesting flavor.

The first thing you need is a bit of seasonings.  These are what make the soup unique.  You need a quarter ounce of Codonopsis dangshen, a quarter ounce of Solomon’s seal (yu ju), a quarter ounce of Ligusticum wallichii (chuan xiong), about ten black dried dates (hei zao), a quarter ounce of Rehmannia glutinosa (gan di huang), and about ten dried Chinese wolfberries (gou ji zi).  You, of course, will not find these in the supermarket.  Go to your local Chinese grocery store with this list, though, and we are pretty sure that you’ll find them.  You might even be able to ask for Bah Kut Teh spices with that name and find them pre-packaged.

Let’s say you can’t find them.  Well, this is total blasphemy, BUT, you could do a lot worse than using a couple dried dates, a handful of dried cherries or dried cranberries, a couple of slices of ginseng, and some fresh galangal.  UPDATE: There is no excuse.  You can order bah kut teh spices online here.

Bah Kut Teh
12 cups water
10 unpeeled garlic cloves
bah kut teh seasonings
1 1/2 lbs pork baby back ribs, separated into individual ribs
10 dried shiitake or Chinese mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 5 minutes and drained
1/4 lb. whole button mushrooms
3 heads Chinese cabbage, blanched
1/2 lb. firm tofu
oil for deep frying
1 tsp. sugar
chopped cilantro and dark soy sauce to garnish

Bring the water to a boil and add the garlic, spices, pork ribs, and mushrooms.  Bring to a boil again, then lower head and simmer for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, press the tofu between a couple sheets of paper towels until most of the water has been removed.  Heat the oil until very hot.  Cut the tofu into large squares, and add to the oil.  Deep fry until deep golden brown and crisp.  Remove and drain.

Add the sugar to the pot and remove from heat.  Divide the Chinese cabbage and tofu into 4 large bowls, and ladle the soup on top.  Sprinkle with roughly chopped cilantro leaves and serve with dark soy sauce in little bowls for dipping.

Gulai is a term that refers to dishes served in a curry-like sauce, and ikan means fish.  It has obvious links to Indian influence throughout the archipelago, but it strictly local.  If you go to a Padang-style restaurant in Indonesia or a homestyle Malay restaurant in Malaysia, dishes like this will feature heavily on the menu.  We’ve Westernized it a bit to be more of a meal in itself (with rice) by adding tomatoes, okra, and green chilies.  Doing so makes it more Indian-like, but if you wanted to be really authentic, you could just leave these out.  This is just about our favorite dish that we’ve made since we got here. Reasonable people could find enough food here for four people, but the two of us ate it up ourselves.  The secret is really fresh fish, of course.  You want a medium-texture white fish (not cod, not swordfish; maybe something like flounder or snapper) for this recipe.

The herb that we use here is daun kesum, or long-stemmed mint.  You almost certainly can’t find that in the West, which is why we’ve included lemon basil and regular mint instead.  It’s close, but no cigar.

Spice Paste
3 garlic cloves
3 shallots
1 inch galangal
1 inch fresh tumeric, or one tsp. ground
1 stalk of lemongrass
1 tsp. fish curry powder
1 1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
1 tsp. black peppercorns
1/4 tsp. salt

Fish Curry
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 stalk of curry leaves
2 cups of tamarind water
2 medium tomatoes, cut into six pieces
10 okras, stem ends chopped off
4 green chilies
1 torch ginger bud, halved
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 pound fish (flounder or snapper)

Make the spice paste by combining all the ingredients in a food processor and blending until smooth. If you use a mortar and pestle, be sure to finely chop the lemongrass first or you’ll never break down the fibers.

In a large skillet or wok, hit the oil over low heat.  Add the spice paste and the curry leaves and fry, stirring often, until very aromatic and the oil starts to separate, about 8 minutes.  Add the tamarind water and bring to a boil.  Add tomatoes and ginger bud, reduce to a simmer, and cook uncovered for 5 minutes.  Add the fish and simmer for 5 minutes more.  Add the okra, chilies, and coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove curry leaf stem and ginger bud.  Serve over rice.