infraredherring.com » IMBB 17: Tea!

Bak Kut Teh-4
I have a confession to make - I love food and I love to cook, but I’m sadly deficient when it comes to cooking Chinese food. I never really learned to cook while growing up. I only really started taking an interest in cooking in Junior year at NYU. So you see, I’ve only ever cooked real food in the US.

So while I have tons of experience cooking Italian, American, even a little basic French food for masses of people, I have very little experience cooking the good, Southeast Asian Chinese food I grew up eating. I’ve been trying to rectify that situation this year. Last month, I cooked Tau Yu Bak (Pork braised in soy sauce) and Lotus Root Soup as baby steps. I cobbled together recipes for both by combining a number of recipes I found online, and to my surprise, both dishes turned out well. Even some of my more culinarily adventurous New York friends liked these two dishes.

When I saw that Clement was hosting the 17th edition of “Is My Blog Burning?” and that the theme would be tea, I knew what I wanted to make. Bak Kut Teh (literally translated: meat bone tea). I love Bak Kut Teh, and while it’s a dish better served during the winter months, I felt I could make an exception.

Imagine my chagrin when I found out that Bak Kut Teh was called a tea, but didn’t actually have tea as an ingredient. Not to be thwarted, I decided to cook it any way - and to accompany it with some Chinese tea eggs for good measure.

Bak Kut Teh
adapted from Shiok! by Terry and Christopher Tan

1 1/2 lb pork ribs
1/2 stick cinnamon
5 cloves
3 star anise
2 packets of bak kut teh spices (sold in most Chinese supermarkets)
12 cups water
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

1. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water for 5 minutes, then shock in cold water.

2. Put pork ribs, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, spice packets, and water into a large pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

3. Add soy sauces, salt. and sugar, and simmer for about an hour, until meat is tender. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper or white pepper.

4. Remove the pieces of meat and set in serving bowl. Strain broth and add to serving bowl. Serve hot with white rice.

Tea Eggs2-1

Chinese Tea Eggs (Cha Ye Dan - literally translated: tea leaf eggs)
I used Assam as that was what I had on hand, but I’ve been told that Lapsang Souchong is the tea of choice for tea eggs.

4 eggs
3 cups water
1 tablespoon black tea leaves
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
4 star anise
1/2 stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns

1. Using a needle, poke a hole in the wide-bottom end of each egg. Place eggs in a small saucepan and cover with tepid water. Bring to a gentle simmer (eggs should not be bouncing around) and simmer for 3 minutes.

2. Remove eggs and run under cold tap water until you can handle them. Using the back of a teaspoon, gently rap on the eggs until they are cracked all over. Try not to dislodge any pieces of shell.

3. In a small saucepan, combine all other ingredients. Add cracked eggs gently, and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer eggs for 2 to 3 hours, adding more water as needed.

4. Eggs should have a beautiful marbled pattern once peeled. Enjoy!

Tea Egg1-1

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