• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
    • About Me
    • Mission and Values
  • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Copyright
  • Contact
  • Roti n Rice
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
Roti n Rice

Roti n Rice

Food to gladden the heart

  • Video Recipes
  • Web Stories
  • Recipe Index
    • Cuisine
      • Asian
      • Southeast Asian
      • Western
      • Fusion
      • Mediterranean
      • Other Cuisines
    • Holiday
      • Chinese New Year
      • Valentine’s Day
      • St Patrick’s Day
      • Easter
      • Thanksgiving
      • Christmas
    • Main Ingredient
      • Beef
      • Poultry
      • Pork
      • Seafood
      • Other Meats
      • Rehash
      • Beans & Lentils
      • Rice & Grain
      • Noodles
      • Egg & Tofu
      • Fruit
      • Vegetables
  • Tutorials
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Reviews
    • Roundups
    • Others
  • Work With Us
Home / Cuisine / Asian / Bak Kut Teh (Pork Ribs Tea) with Detailed Herb Guide

Bak Kut Teh (Pork Ribs Tea) with Detailed Herb Guide

By: 👩‍🦳 Linda · Published: 🖨 January 4, 2012 · Updated: 💻January 3, 2021 · 🗨 32 Comments

Recipe ▼

Bak Kut Teh (Pork Ribs Tea) is a Chinese herbal soup with dong gui known for its warming properties. Perfect for the colder months.

Bak Kut Teh served with steamed rice and yew char koay.

Bak Kut Teh in the Hokkien or Fujianese dialect literally translates to Pork Rib Tea. This rich herbal soup contains dong gui (Angelica Sinensis), known for its warming properties. For this reason, it is popularly eaten as a supper or late night meal in Malaysia and Singapore. Over here in Minnesota, I like to cook it in the winter as it helps ward off the cold.

Whole Herbs vs Spice Sachets

In the old days, the herbal mix can only be purchased at the Chinese “medicine shop”. Today most grocery stores in Malaysia and Singapore carry them in sachets where the herbs are ground to a powder. These sachets can also be found here in the US.

I much prefer the “real thing” with the whole herbs. Whenever I visit my mom in Malaysia, she will take me to the “medicine shop” where the Ah Pek (uncle) will combine the herbs into neat packages and properly seal them for me to bring home.

Bak Kut Teh (Pork Ribs Tea) is a Chinese herbal soup with dong gui known for its warming properties. This comforting dish is perfect for the colder months. | RotiNRice.com #bakkutteh #porkribstea #herbalsoup

To Each His Own

Each “medicine shop” has their own mix of herbs and no two are the same. The way of preparation also differ from person to person. The lighter colored soups tend to be more peppery while the darker colored ones tend to be sweeter and more herbal. I prefer the darker, more herbal version.

These are the herbs and spices from one of the packages from the “medicine shop”…

Bak Kut Teh herbs and spices

Additional Ingredients

I added the following dried ingredients…

Additional ingredients for Bak Kut Teh.

**Not shown are rock sugar, garlic, and pork ribs.

The Meat

I used boneless pork ribs as I did have baby back ribs. You can also use a mix of ribs and meat, if preferred. There is also a unique Malaysian version called Chik Kut Teh where the pork is substituted with chicken.

Keeping the Soup Clear

Herbs that are not eaten should be placed in a muslin filter bag so that the soup remains clear.

Similar Products Used in Making This Bak Kut Teh

This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy here.

Circulon Genesis Stainless Steel Nonstick 5-Quart Covered Dutch Oven
Chef Craft Stainless Steel Ladle

Bak Kut Teh served with steamed rice and yew char koay.
5 from 8 votes

Bak Kut Teh (Pork Ribs Tea)

Bak Kut Teh (Pork Ribs Tea) is a Chinese herbal soup with dong gui known for its warming properties. This comforting dish is perfect for the colder months.
Author : Linda Ooi
Course : Main Dish
Cuisine : Chinese
Keyword : bak kut teh, pork bone tea, pork ribs tea
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate this Recipe
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 2 hrs
Total Time 2 hrs 15 mins
Servings : 6
Calories : 473kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 10 cups water (2.5 liters)
  • 1 packet Bak Kut Teh herbs (rinsed and drained)
  • 3 slices Angelica Sinensis / Dong Gui (rinsed and drained)
  • 12 Chinese mushrooms / shitake mushrooms (soaked, rinsed, and stalks removed)
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 bulb garlic (separated but not peeled)
  • 2 lbs baby back ribs or pork ribs, cut into bite-size pieces (900g)
  • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 piece rock sugar (10g)
  • Salt to taste
  • 12 small tofu puffs (cut into halves)
  • 24 pieces tofu skin knots (rinsed, soaked for 20 minutes, drained) (optional)
  • ¼ cup goji berries (rinsed and soaked for 10 minutes, drained (30g) (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Bring water in a large pot to a boil.
  • Place all bak kut teh herbs, except for spice sachet, Solomon’s seal rhizome (yok chok), and red or black dates in a muslin filter bag. Dong gui should also be placed in the muslin filter bag.
  • When water comes to a boil, place muslin bag, spice sachet, yok chok, dates, and mushrooms in the water.
  • Heat vegetable oil in a large fry pan. Add garlic and pork ribs. Sear ribs for about 3 minutes. Stir in dark soy sauce. Turn off heat and transfer pork ribs and garlic to huge pot.
    Bak Kut Teh (Pork Ribs Tea)-10
  • Add rock sugar. When liquid comes back to a boil, season with salt. Reduce heat to low and allow it to simmer for about 1½ hours.
  • Add tofu puffs, tofu skin knots, and goji berries. Simmer for another 30 minutes.
  • Discard muslin filter bag and spice sachet.
  • Serve with steamed rice, yew char kway (aka as you tiao or Chinese crullers), and cut chilies in soy sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 473kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @RotiNRice or tag #RotiNRice

Serving Suggestions for Bak Kut Teh

Bak Kut Teh is best served hot with steamed rice or fragrant rice cooked with shallot or garlic, yew char kway (also known as as you tiao or Chinese crullers), and cut chilies in soy sauce. A vegetable dish that goes well with Bak Kut Teh is tender crisp blanched Yu Choy Sum. It is a nice counter point to the meaty soup.

Deliciouos and warming Bak Kut Teh (Pork Ribs Tea)

Bak Kut Teh Herbs and Spices

If you are interested to source and put together the herbs, you may want to include the following…

3 slices dong gui (Angelica Sinensis)
30g dang shen/tong sum (Codonopsis root)
30g chuan xiong (Rhizoma ligustici)
1 small piece (10g) shu di huang/lo sok tei (Rehmannia)
2 pieces gan cao (licorice root)
2 star anise, crushed
1 stick cinnamon, crushed
6 cloves
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
½ tsp white peppercorn, crushed

50g yu zhu/yok chok (Solomon’s seal rhizome)
10 red or black dates
¼ cup (30g) goji/wolf berries

All ingredients except the last three should be placed in a muslin filter bag. Red or black dates and goji berries should be soaked, rinsed, and drained before use.

Note: Black dates tend to be sweeter than red dates. Measurements are only approximations. Please adjust according to taste.

Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 😎


2.6K shares

Categories: 🗂 Asian, Main Dish, Pork, Soup Tags: 📋 Chinese, herbal

Roti n Rice's Amazon Page Roti n Rice is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Previous Post: « Poached Pears with White Fungus and Red Dates
Next Post: Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. Nasi Lemak Lover says

    January 5, 2012 at 4:28 am

    5 stars
    Biren, Thank you for showing us what herbs are inside a BKT package, great info, i never know what are inside the BKT package as usually i bought the powder form, hehehe..Next time, i will go Chinese herbal soup to make my own package like this.

    Reply
    • Biren says

      January 5, 2012 at 10:02 pm

      Sonia, I much prefer the real herbs to the powdered sachets. I think I might be able to get all the individual herbs here. Will try to look for them soon. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Jeannie says

    January 5, 2012 at 8:42 am

    5 stars
    Ya agreed with Sonia, I too have not seen the contents of a bakuteh packet:) just throw into the water and cook:P Your bkt looks delicious!

    Reply
    • Biren says

      January 5, 2012 at 10:05 pm

      I too never bothered to see what’s inside the package until now. My mom did all the cooking and I was just happy to do the eating. 😀

      Reply
  3. Ann@Anncoo Journal says

    January 5, 2012 at 9:43 am

    5 stars
    Same here. As a Cantonese I only had BKT at those hawker stall and now is so convenient to get BKT sachet and dump everything together in a pot.

    Reply
    • Biren says

      January 5, 2012 at 10:09 pm

      I did the same back then. Over here, I have to cook the dishes if I want to eat it. Forces me to learn and to take an interest in the ingredients.

      Reply
  4. Aban says

    January 5, 2012 at 4:15 pm

    Looks live comfort food to me!Yum!

    Reply
    • Biren says

      January 5, 2012 at 10:10 pm

      Thanks Aban for visiting! 🙂

      Reply
  5. tigerfish says

    January 5, 2012 at 6:10 pm

    Wow, look at all those herbs. Thanks for the details 🙂
    I usually prefer the lighter peppery version (I think the Teochew version) of BKT but maybe I have not tried a delicious Hokkien version.

    Reply
    • Biren says

      January 5, 2012 at 10:10 pm

      Do give this a try. I think you should be able to get most of the herbs in California.

      Reply
  6. Emily @LivingLongfellow says

    January 5, 2012 at 7:43 pm

    Thanks for all the information! I enjoy learning about herbs and medicines in other cultures.

    Reply
    • Biren says

      January 5, 2012 at 10:11 pm

      Hi Emily! So good of you to visit. Glad you find the post interesting. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Lyn says

    January 6, 2012 at 1:06 am

    5 stars
    Hi Biren! Hope you’re doing good! I’m now busier with my sending and fetching schedule with the sch term starting for both gals, so I’m left with limited time for going online and blogging. 🙁

    It’s been quite a while since I last cooked BKT soup! Had wanted to cook always but like what you’ve mentioned above, this soup is more on the warming(heaty) side, I kept delaying bcoz my gals and Hubby are more prone to getting heaty, I cooked more cooling soups instead. LOL
    I’ve tried the Malaysian version twice. I prefer the sweeter and herbal taste as compared to our SG version. So I’ll always buy sachets that are stated herbal. 🙂 I love dipping my yew char kway in the soup! YUMS!

    Reply
  8. denise @ singapore shiok says

    January 6, 2012 at 9:14 am

    5 stars
    Oh my word Biren! That looks truly wonderful! Eventhough I actually prefer the lighter, more peppery Teochew version, your bowl of Hokkien style bak kut teh is making my mouth water *YUM* We also have chik kut teh in Singapore lol The sound of it always makes me laugh. I love these fortifying soups and have actually been slurping a lot of them lately 😉

    Reply
  9. Angie's Recipes says

    January 6, 2012 at 9:36 am

    I have never made BKT soup at home…such a perfect warming and nutritious soup.

    Reply
  10. Melanie @ Melanie Cooks says

    January 6, 2012 at 10:48 am

    Looks like a great comfort food!

    Reply
  11. vianney says

    January 7, 2012 at 1:43 am

    This looks amazing! I have never tried this, but I know I would love it. the flavors and herbs are wonderful , thanks. I love learning about new dishes!!

    Reply
  12. mycookinghut says

    January 7, 2012 at 9:55 am

    This is a winter comfort! I haven’t had it for so long!

    Reply
  13. Cathy at Wives with Knives says

    January 7, 2012 at 11:52 am

    I would love to try this recipe, Biren. It looks like it has so much flavor, perfect for a winter day. I recognize some of the ingredients and bet I could find the rest at my favorite Asian market.

    Reply
  14. Chaya says

    January 7, 2012 at 5:04 pm

    Thanks for being part of my Favorite Finds.
    http://sweetsav.blogspot.com/2011/12/finding-joy-in-my-kitche-n-has-friday.html
    Please visit.

    Reply
  15. Nami | Just One Cookbook says

    January 7, 2012 at 5:58 pm

    I have some of these herbs in my fridge as my mother in law left it before and had me brought some home from Taiwan. I didn’t have a recipe before but now I have! Looks like it’s very healthy and great detox which I am in need…. teehee!

    Reply
    • Joyce says

      July 16, 2018 at 1:39 pm

      5 stars
      It is a great soup with white rice! Been making it for decades. My mom asks for it.

      Reply
  16. Magic of Spice says

    January 7, 2012 at 6:45 pm

    Oh wow, there is a lot of love in this soup…I can just imagine how fragrant it must be 🙂

    Reply
  17. Juliana says

    January 7, 2012 at 10:35 pm

    Wow, what an interesting dish with pork ribs…I never had anything like this, so many different ingredients…must taste very good.
    Hope you are having a great weekend Biren 🙂

    Reply
  18. Kitchen Belleicious says

    January 8, 2012 at 6:39 am

    Oh wow! this looks incredible. I can just see from the pictures just how tender that meat is in the broth. So flavorful too with all those ingredients

    Reply
  19. wok with ray says

    January 8, 2012 at 10:24 am

    I see tons of goodies in there, Biren! Of course my favorite will be the boneless ribs, yumm! I can imagine how cold it is where you at and this dish is really perfect. I hope you’re enjoying the rest of your weekend, Biren!

    ~ ray ~

    Reply
  20. Christine says

    January 8, 2012 at 6:18 pm

    Great post. Thanks for the info.

    Reply
  21. PolaM says

    January 10, 2012 at 8:12 am

    I love herbal soups! I just have no idea how to make them.. .Thanks for showing us, now I only have to gather the courage to go looking for them at an asian store…

    Reply
  22. Devaki @ weavethousandflavors says

    January 10, 2012 at 8:21 pm

    5 stars
    I used to love sitting in the hawker centers of Singapore and dig into steaming bowls of bak ku teh but I cannot lie Biren, the ingredient list is scaring me to tears! LOVE IT!

    BTW, I am giving away a years worth of Sargento cheese so get on it, girl!

    chow 🙂 Devaki @ weavethousandflavors

    Reply
  23. Elizabeth says

    December 26, 2016 at 9:15 pm

    Hi, Can you share the name and street of your medicine shop? I assume it is in Georgetown? My husband is will be visiting family in Penang in May, so he could fetch the herbs. I, too, have only used the sachet packets. I really enjoy your site. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Linda says

      January 9, 2017 at 8:23 am

      The Bak Kut Teh you see here is actually made with herbs purchased in Kepong. I did say on Facebook that I was trying out herbs purchased in Penang and that came from Cheng Woh at Campbell Street. Unless you are cooking a small portion, you may want to add a few more slices of dong gui to the soup. I always do.

      Reply
  24. Ed says

    June 21, 2022 at 8:01 am

    5 stars
    I lived in Singapore and Penang for 30 years before moving back to Connecticut .
    I miss Bak Kut Teh , Laksa and durian .
    This looks like a great recipe .
    I have only made my own with herbal packs I brought back with me but sadly I’ve run out of them .
    Will have to try from scratch .

    Reply

Primary Sidebar


My grace is sufficient for thee…
2 Corinthians 12:9

Hi, I’m Linda! I make quick, easy meals, and spin on classics and old favorites with focus on Malaysian, Chinese, and American cuisines. Read more →

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
Roti n Rice

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

My grace is sufficient for thee…

2 Corinthians 12:9

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Copyright

© 2010–2023 · Roti n Rice · All Rights Reserved