Dude, Where Is My Bak Kut Teh?

Bak kut teh

We were at this almost newly opened bak kut teh shop. The menu has quite an extensive offering of pork cuts. There were ribs, meat, trotters and intestines, as well as braised sea cucumber and stir fried vegetable dishes. The waiter told us that each bak kut teh portion costs RM10. As Wuan and I do not fancy eating too much meat, we ordered one portion of sam chang (belly pork) and two servings of rice and a pot of kuk po (Pu-erh and chrysanthemum tea) to wash down the greasiness from the meat.

It took a while before our order came. It was dinner time. The shop was quite full. We thought it was unusual, despite the customers on the tables around us tucking heartily into their food, that our olfactory senses did not detect any hint of the herbal aroma unique to bak kut teh. The arrival of our order confirmed that. There was none of the aroma that would usually permeate from the soup and meat. Perhaps, that was another style of bak kut teh that we have not savoured before.

The serving came with a very economical portion of soup as is synonymous with Klang bak kut teh which I assumed it was. Bak kut teh from elsewhere came with a generous serving of soup. On the first bite, I detected a whiff of peanut. Maybe that was just my imagination. The meat was tender, very tender. I liked it. That was the only thing I liked about the entire meal.

We both agreed that the soup was unappealing, bordering on being watered down. The taste of the meat was mild, to say the least. We had to dip it into the soy sauce to make it more palatable. What a waste to fritter away my protein quota for dinner on a meal as lacklustre as that. The bill came to a shocking RM22. The kuk po alone cost RM8! One thing for sure, I will not be caught eating there again.

Author: Peter Tan

Peter Gabriel Tan. Penangite residing in the Klang Valley. Blissfully married to Wuan. A LaSallian through and through. Slave to three cats. Wheelchair user since 1984. End-stage renal disease since 2017. Principal Facilitator at Peter Tan Training specialising in Disability Equality Training. Former columnist of Breaking Barriers with The Borneo Post. This blog chronicles my life, thoughts and opinions. Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook.

6 thoughts on “Dude, Where Is My Bak Kut Teh?”

  1. This is one of the reasons why I have never eaten BKT for a while. Is this particular restaurant in downtown Klang?

    Peter:
    I have never been to Klang before. 🙂

  2. I like my BKT with LOTS of soup, so unlikely. XD

    Peter:
    I, too, like my BKT with lots of soup for soaking the rice and dipping the yau char kuai in. Heavenly!

  3. One of the best BKT I’ve taken was in puchong where my brother in law took us to.The intestines are slit open and rolled up.The belly pork is divine and the pig stomach in pepper soup to die for.
    That said, I don’t take BKT that frequently for fear of staring at porky when i look in the mirror although I (oink oink) am not that far off.

    Rich food is food for the soul ( meaning it gets to leave the body sooner!!).

    Peter:
    I don’t take BKT that often also but the times that I do I would expect it to taste good. Puchong is too far from where I stay. If not I would have asked you for the location of the shop.

  4. My aunt took me to PJ old town for BKT. The restaurant is an old house with a concrete yard. Food was good. The bill came up to $40 for 3 people. We ordered some side dishes too.

    Peter:
    The price is quite reasonable especially when there are side dishes.

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