肉骨茶Bak Kut Teh ~ Teo Chew Style

佳園 Kai Juan is an old corner shop selling traditional "Teo Chew" Bak Kut Teh. Right opposite 1 of the famous chicken rice outlet, easily unnoticed by passersby, is a humble vintage looking stall with some tables & chairs with a Small stove next to most of the tables. Business has been running for the past 3 decades by the 67years old owner selling only BKT. Some of their dish includes the  braised pork trotter, cai busy (菜尾), Tao Pok & Tao kee & of cos Bak Kut Teh (BKT). Kai Juan is one of the few early startups selling this local delicacy cooked in simplicity yet a hard skill to master. Teo Chew cooking style with heavily seasoned with white pepper and alots of whole garlics with salt added to taste. Seems simple but experience is much needed to ensure soft texture of the pork ribs is retained while the flavors retains in the ribs. 

In the early days, where China immigrants grows their roots in Singapore, meat are a rare dedelicacy which few could really afford. With the limited spices & cheap ingredients, the Teo Chew uses pig bones with little meat to cook soup and sell to the people whom mostly are the coolies. BKT used to be a breakfast choice for many who will coupled the breakfast with Chinese tea to enhance the flavors of the meat as well as a habit to enjoy tea. 

KaiJuan's BKT is nicely cooked till perfection with the tenderness of the ribs which falls apart when you sink your teeth into it. The juicy stock from the meat fills your taste bud with savoury, peppery & sweet taste of the ribs, While you add on the enjoyment with spoon full of white rice.

The add on is the salted vegetables (cai buay ) which is stewed with some pork lard that wrapped the salted vegetables with some lingering smell of lard fragrance.
Braised trotter is soft and tender with the smell of spices like anistar & cinnamon couple with the beanny dark soy sauce taste. The sauce of the trotter is often added to the white rice to enhance sweetness of the rice while adding a beautiful contrast of black & white within the grains.
Small serving of cutter Chinese cruller (You Tiao) is an add on to allow diners ,who loves the alternate carbo intake, to soak it into the soup and watch the cruller sucking up the soup and growing into twice it's size before settling the cruller into the mouth.

Traditional food has evolved over the years and BKT is no longer a breakfast choice but an all day long food to many. The enthusiasm of the stall owners has been reduced largely over the years when many of the chefs passed-on and commercialization takes over. Commercial interest in the business has lost the human touch & lack of understanding in the root of the dish often done by machines or foreigners. The chattiness between the business owners and the patrons is no longer linked unlike in the past where the stall owners would know what the diners wanted when they walked into the shop.

As globalization kicks in, the old traditional business model makes way to money spinner. Do give it a try before the human touch & passion cooking losses to money making opportunity.

Coy: Kai Juan (佳園）
Add: 395 Balestier Road (towards Thomson Medical)
Cost: $25 for 2pax.

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