Bak kut teh can be found in both Singapore and Malaysia though they differ in form and taste. Generally, the Malaysian variety is savoury herbal in brownish soup while the Singapore version is peppery in lighter colour soup.
Though a Chinese dish, there is nothing quite like bak kut teh in China itself. Visitors from China recognise that bak kut teh is a Singapore / Malaysia dish and is one of the iconic, must try dishes when they visit.
When we look for the antecedent of bak kut teh in China, we could consider it a type of Chinese tonic soup but will face difficulty finding a closely matching dish in form and taste in China now.
How then did Singapore / Malaysia bak kut teh come about?
Unfortunately, there are no known documents on the origins of bak kut teh in Singapore or Malaysia. We only have urban legends, oral traditions and hypotheses.
COOLIE'S TONIC
In both Singapore and in Klang (Malaysia), the urban legends involved labourers. There's the story of coolies (labourers) picking up dropped spices at the port in Singapore or Port Swettenham (today's Klang) to make bak kut teh.
There's the story of port coolies seeking herbalists' help to concoct a tonic for more strength, less pain and to counter the aftereffects of opium smoking. Or, the one about the kind hearted boss who commissioned a herbalist to concoct a tonic for his mine workers.
These legends and oral traditions go back only as far as the 1920s though Raffles founded Singapore in 1819 and Port Swettenham (today's Klang) opened in 1901 - meaning, bak kut teh could be older than the 1920s.
The common thread of these legends and oral traditions is bak kut teh started as a herbal tonic. This sounds plausible as Chinese have long been using natural foods as therapy under the philosophy of 藥食同源 "food and medicine are one". The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine 黄帝内经 was written around 300 BC but the culture of food as medicine most likely go back even further.
Tonic soups 药汤 come in many forms in China. It can be made with meat such as fish, chicken, mutton or pork boiled with various herbs for their curative or fortifying effects. For example, dang shen 党参 boosts the immune system, dang gui 當歸 promotes blood circulation, licorices 甘草 boosts stamina, wai san 淮山 promotes joint health, just to name a few commonly used in herbal bak kut teh.
The innovation of Singapore / Malaysia bak kut teh was the use of the humble bak kut 肉骨 or literally pork bone. The pork bones used were poor quality cuts like the head, neck, and spine as bak kut teh was a poor coolie's dish.
Singapore's Boat Quay and Clarke Quay where the trading houses and warehouses were located were near to the abattoir on Pulau Saigon island. (Pulau Saigon no longer exists. It had been merged with the bank of Singapore River and is now River Place condominium.) The abattoir opened in 1880 and was a source of pork meat bone for our pioneer's bak kut teh. Over in Klang, an abattoir was also located near to the warehouses and was thus a source of pork meat bone there.
A blend of dark and light soy sauce was added for colour and flavour. The early bak kut teh of Port Swettenham (Klang) and Singapore were all combinations of pork bones, herbs, and dark & light soy sauce. There was never tea leaves in the soup itself. There was nothing quite like bak kut teh in the cuisine of China then and now.
Singapore Hokkien, Teochew and in Klang, the early bak kut teh were shades of brown depending on the blend of dark and light soy sauce, herbs, spices and pork bones
SINGAPORE HOKKIEN
Hokkien bak kut teh like the one at Nankin Street Bak Kut Teh at Maxwell Market in Singapore likely didn't changed much from the early days of Singapore bak kut teh. The soup is dark brown, the cuts of meat bone are average, and use of herbs & spices is generous. Many of Nankin Street's older regulars in their 70s credit herbal bak kut teh for the good health they enjoy.
Another Hokkien dark soup herbal bak kut teh stall is at Hong Lim Food Centre. There are probably less than five such Hokkien bak kut teh stalls left in Singapore today (2023).
SINGAPORE TEOCHEW
In the 1950s, bak kut teh stalls sprouted up in the Clarke Quay area which was the Teochew enclave. The early Singapore Teochew style of bak kut teh was made with pork bones, garlic and a blend of soy sauce. Unlike their Hokkien counterparts, Singapore Teochew bak kut teh had little to no herbs. The Teochew were also more light handed with their use of soy sauce, so their soup was tea coloured instead of deep dark brownish.
This early style of Teochew bak kut teh is still available at Double Happy Bak Kut Teh stall at Zion Riverside Food Centre.
Across the Causeway in Johor Bahru, which is known as "Little Swatow 小汕頭" as the largest Chinese community there is Teochew, Bak Cheng Bak Kut Teh became the leading purveyor of the dish in JB in the 1970s. Bak Cheng's Teochew bak kut teh was based on pork bones, soy sauce and a touch of herbs. Bak Cheng's bak kut teh was started by his father in the 1950s beside Sungai Segget river in old downtown Johor Bahru. Today, Bak Cheng's wife and descendants still run Teochew bak kut teh stalls in JB with the Bak Cheng brand.
In the 1960s, one of the Teochew bak kut teh stalls at Clarke Quay sold a bak kut teh with garlic, pepper, pork bones, sans soy sauce and herbs. Ng Mui Song's peppery bak kut teh gradually caught on and grew in popularity, eclipsing the type of Teochew bak kut teh represented by Double Happy and also Hokkien bak kut teh.
Ng Mui Song's son Ng Ah Sio played a big role in popularising the peppery bak kut teh which is today synonymous with Singapore bak kut teh.
Ng Mui Song's nephew Lau Ah Tee worked with his uncle since his teens in the 1960s. Lau Ah Tee still serves the Ng Mui Song style of peppery bak kut teh at his own restaurant in Whampoa West.
From bak kut which were low quality cuts of meat and bone, bak kut teh in Singapore today mostly uses pork rib, or pai kut in Hokkien / Teochew. The preferred premium cut is the loin rib which is large and has good balance of meat and fat. It is nicknamed "loong ku" or dragon bone 龍骨.
ESTIMATED TIME LINE OF SINGAPORE BAK KUT TEH
There are no available documents to date Singapore bak kut teh at the moment. I attempt to estimate the timeline using the parallel history of Singapore tea culture to infer the key development stages of Singapore bak kut teh as the two are intertwined in Nanyang tea culture.
When Pek Sin Choon Tea Merchants was founded in the 1920s, bak kut teh vendors were one of their key customers, suggesting that bak kut teh was already prevalent in the 1920s. This is consistent with the urban legend of coolies eating bak kut teh as herbal tonic back then.
KLANG
Klang bak kut teh likely didn't deviate too much in its basic form from its fabled origins, be it at the port or tin mines. The meat bone is boiled in a soup with soy sauce and herbs. The dish looks brownish. The soup tastes savoury with a touch of herb and spice flavours.
Like Singapore, bak kut teh in Klang likely started with lower grade cuts of meat bone. As people became more well off, better cuts of pork are used in bak kut teh. Unlike Singapore bak kut teh where the preferred cut is ribs, in Klang, parts of the leg like hock, shank, shoulder, knuckle, ankle, etc., are more popular choices. Personally, I am also more inclined to cuts from the leg.
There are about 150 bak kut teh shops in Klang today (2023). They all serve their own versions of Klang style bak kut teh which are variations in proportioning of dark / light soy sauce and herbs / spices. The shops all have different profiles of savoury and sweet flavours, and have their own loyal following which often spans generations.
In around 2000, a new type of bak kut teh emerged that soon gained traction among Klang folks - dry bak kut teh. It is braised pork belly, ribs, etc., finished by stir frying together with lady finger, dried chili pepper, shreds of dried cuttlefish, dark soy sauce, and dashes of bak kut teh stock for lubrication. The resulting dish has full blown savoury flavours with spicy heat, umami from dried cuttlefish and the coveted toastiness of wok hei. Dry bak kut teh caught on quickly and today almost all bak kut teh shops in Klang have it on their menu.
THE TEH IN BAK KUT TEH
In around 2010, a new theory emerged peddled by the descendants of Lee Boon Teh who came to Klang from Fujian in the 1940s. Lee Boon Teh started selling meat bone soup which was well received. His shop known as Teck Teh is still in operation, making it the oldest bak kut teh shop still running.
According to this theory, as the meat bone soup or bak kut was sold by Lee Boon Teh, the dish became known as bak kut teh i.e. the teh in bak kut teh is actually the teh in Lee Boon Teh. This claim is widely propagated by media of all kinds from Malaysia and Singapore.
The theory would place the creation of bak kut teh in Klang in the 1940s. It contradicts the oral tradition that bak kut teh has been around in Singapore and possibly Klang since the 1920s or earlier as coolie or miner's meat bone herbal soup. It also implied that all bak kut teh including Singapore bak kut teh were derived from Lee Boon Teh's 1940s creation. Or, it could imply that Klang and Singapore bak kut teh are unrelated even though both dishes share many features and share the same name.
NIU PAI TO KLANG BAK KUT TEH?
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| Quanzhou stewed beef |
Like the Lee Boon Teh theory, the Niu Pai theory contradicts the coolie and herbal tonic theories of origin of Klang bak kut teh. It is interesting that there is no beef to pork switch (niu pai to bak kut teh) in Fujian province itself even though pork is abundant and traditionally a major source of protein for Chinese people. It is also interesting that migrants from Fujian familiar with niu pai did not try to make niu pai or teach the local Muslims in Klang how to cook the dish.
CONCLUSION
Bak kut teh was probably concocted first as a health tonic for coolies and labourers. There's medicinal herbs for health benefits, then spices and soy sauce for flavour and colour. Judging by its taste profile, old Hokkien and Teochew bak kut teh vary only in proportioning of herbs, spices, and soy sauce. Meat bone used was the lowest quality such as skull, neck and spine. There is not enough evidence to attribute it to Hokkien or Teochew, but the two probably appeared at around the same time.
As working conditions for coolies improved in Singapore and Klang around the 1950s, the need for medicinal herbs reduced. The amount of tonic herbs gave way to spices and sauces. Singapore Teochew took it to the extreme. Eliminated all the medicinal herbs and focussed on premium Sarawak pepper. Some did away with soy sauce while some kept a small amount in their recipe. In Klang, bak kut teh remains basically the same but in the style popularised by Lee Boon Teh with viscous soup which is savoury from soy sauce with little spice and herbs.
Hi Tony,
ReplyDeleteAnother excellent article on a subject close to my heart, or should it be stomach? I you may allow a sidebar on some dates.
Firstly, the port of Klang did not starts with Port Swettenham, officially open on 15th Sept, 1901, but as Pelabuhan Batu (Stone Port?), on the river banks at the current Klang town. Its existence had been recorded as far back as 1511, when Malacca fell to the Portuguese. It was push/moved further down river with the development of the railway, to transport tin ore to the port now commonly known as Port Klang. In a nutshell, Bak Kut Teh originated in Klang town (NOT PORT KLANG!), between 17th and 18th century when Chine traders and miners started participation in (even monopolises) the logistic business, as it is still the case today.
Secondly, Bar Kut Teh existed before the turn of 19th century, and Mr. Lee Boon Teh arrived in Klang in the 1940s. I do admire Mr. Lee for his entrepreneurial spirit, but for the very last time we must lay to rest this hearsay of the teh in Bak Kut Teh. He was not even born when Bak Kut Teh appears in Klang. What a load of Poppycock.
Again, I must thank you for putting Klang on the map, as the origin of Bak Kut Teh, at least for the Min Nan style.