Pork Spare Rib Soup (Bah Kut Teh)
Difficulty 3/5 Ingredients 13 Steps 7
Bah kut teh (literally, "spare rib tea") is a Hokkien specialty. It is an exotic herbal soup spiced with plenty of aromatic spices including star anise, cinnamon, cloves and lots of garlic. It is often served with Chinese doughnuts and goes well with white rice. It usually comes with a small serve of cut red chillies in dark soy sauce or garlic.
Ingredients
- 6 dried shitake mushrooms
- 1½ lb (680 g) pork spareribs, cut into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces
- 1 whole bulb garlic, unpeeled and slightly crushed
- 2 inches (5 cm) ginseng root, peeled and slightly crushed
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 5 star anise pods
- 1 tbsp white peppercorns
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 6 shallots, finely sliced and fried until golden brown (optional)
- Salt
- Pepper
Steps
- Soak dried shitake mushrooms in 240 ml boiling water. When soft, slice into strips. Reserve liquid for cooking.
- In stockpot, cover spareribs with cold water. Parboil until froth rises to surface.
- Drain. Rinse briefly under cold running water. Drain again.
- In casserole pan, combine parboiled spareribs, garlic bulb, ginseng root, shitake mushrooms, reserved liquid and enough additional water to cover meat.
- Wrap cinnamon, star anise, white and black peppercorns in cheesecloth. Tie with string. Add to pan.
- Bring gradually to boil. Cover. Reduce heat. Simmer 45–60 min until pork is very tender, skimming fat from surface occasionally.
- When meat is almost falling off bones, discard spice bag. Season with salt and pepper. Add dark soy sauce and sugar.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Pork Spare Rib Soup (Bah Kut Teh)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2026-01-05, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Bah Kut Teh.jpg by Fuyong127, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.