Founder Bak Kut Teh on Balestier Road

This blog woke up early one morning and was hankering for comfort food. I had promised eslim that I would try out the famous Syed Alwi beef balls, but I’ve recently had my fill and I wanted something more substantial.

A brief consultation with eslim where I was warned about a long queue and off I went in search of his favourite Bak Kut Teh Restaurant.

It was lunchtime, but there was no queue. Yes! *Punches Fist In The Air*

I got my table within seconds and was rattling off my order as eslim said I should also buy a lottery ticket too. Apparently, such things do not occur frequently on a Sunday during lunchtime.

One of the difficulties in lunching alone is that while you want to try everything, it is physically impossible to try everything. Honestly, this blog does his best, but sometimes you need to Cherry-Pick the Low-Hanging Fruit to Create a Palatable Salad of Wonder to Delight The Senses.

But enough of fruit and vegetable metaphors. The Pork Rib soup was one of the cleanest-tasting I have ever had. Slightly peppery without the strong garlic. There is a light touch, almost a tingle, of the pork bone flavours that you don’t find in most Bak Kut Teh soups. Indeed, the finish had an ephemeral quality that’s interesting because of that.

People who prefer strong flavours of pepper and garlic may find the Pork Rib soup at Founder Bak Kut Teh too mild. Then again, the flavour emphasis is different here. For the fiery pepper soup, the pork provides a background depth to the strong garlic and pepper broth whereas the one at Founder’s seems to place the pork flavours at the forefront.

The meat of the pork rib itself is another taste-dimension. Almost bone-white, it looked a little dry to me. In fact it was pretty dry as I took a nibble. This is a mistake I found out as I immediately took a bigger bite to include some of the fat embedded in the center of the meat. It was then I realised why people like Founder’s; again, it was very clean-tasting with the fat slowing enhancing the flavours as you chew. So, as in life, you should take big bites; Morsus Amplifico (Sus).

Of course, that was nothing compared to the Braised Pork Trotters. It was superb.

Whenever you order Braised Pork Trotters, it should come intact as a single “piece” – the phrase “whole hog” came to mind, but it ran away before I could use it – floating on a calm lake of soya sauce and jus. I would send it back if it comes to you in pieces.

This is because I feel that the perfectly cooked braised pig trotter should have a firm taut skin with a slippery smoothness that is slightly springy to the bite, the fat should be soft without being oily and disgustingly “squishy” and the flesh should come apart cleanly.

And I love to ladle the soya sauce over the rice. This is essential because one of the greatest shortcomings of Singaporean Bak Kut Teh is the tragic neglect of the preparation of rice.

I think the intent here is to use rice to tone down the flavours of the food, e.g. too salty as opposed to ehancing the flavours of the food like the rice served to me in the Bak Kut Teh Restaurant in Seremban. I definitely prefer the latter over the former.

The other notable dish at Founder Bak Kut Teh is the Pig Intestines or “Hoon Terng”. It was the mild with a nice chewy texture. Unfortunately, I do not like cabbage in soup as it adds, to me, a foul smell and taste. Try boiling cabbage in your kitchen, you’ll soon discover a rather distressing smell emanating from it. That’s the smell I do not like at all. To me, the intestines alone would provide a good enough twist to the original broth without the sewage-smelling boiled cabbage.

Lunch at Founder Bak Kut Teh Restaurant is an excellent way to spend some quality time reading or with the family and friends. The flavours are subtle and should be approached differently without prejudice from other experiences.

This is why I do not advocate a comparison, especially using number scales (which are meaningless in this context), simply because it is not a level-playing field; they are not even playing on the same field. I tend to view these numbers with the same seriousness I reserve for culturally important events such as this.

Founder Bak Kut Teh Restaurant is at 347 Balestier Road. Go before 11.30am to get good seats.

Posted on 6th Aug 2007 in Food and Drink

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There Are 7 Comments

bottomless pit commented on August 6, 2007 at 1:50 am

I just had that for supper!!! haha opps…i guess i need to watch my weight… been eating there for a long time now i guess…any other recommendations for BKT?

Ivan commented on August 6, 2007 at 11:41 pm

@bottomless pit: Not really. This blog tends to eat whimiscally.

gurge commented on August 8, 2007 at 2:43 am

ivaaan, you are killing me with your blog. I am sooo dying of good-food-deprivation here in norway. I have to eat a ham sandwich for lunch everyday (work lunchroom) with no other choices or places to buy food. I cant even get any decent meat in the supermarket. I am gonna kill a cow in my backyard soon. please send me the fairy of all things good (food).

sigh.

Ivan commented on August 8, 2007 at 9:48 am

@gurge: Well, flying to Norway to do a website for a boyband is a dream for a lot of people leh.

Anyway, try grilling your ham sarnies with slices of pineapple and brown sugar or simply mix some honey with dry mustard to go with it. Apple works too. Not as tasty, but microwave should work too.

And if you do cross into Sweden, watch your step: http://www.thelocal.se/8107/20070806/

gurge commented on August 11, 2007 at 1:19 am

haha… boyband?! what boyband? a-ha or alphaville?

Ivan commented on August 13, 2007 at 1:35 am

@gurge: Alphaville? A-Ha? Before my time…

gurge commented on August 15, 2007 at 3:15 am

haha, nah, cause aha is from norway and alphaville somehow is still very big here.

and thanks for making me feel old…

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