Bold new brew of bak kut teh

L5 Bak Kut Teh: Recreating the flavours of Klang

- Hedy Khoo

Bak kut teh is back and bolder than ever.

At Old Street Bak Kut Teh's newest outlet in Telok Ayer, diners can dig into peppery pork rib soup and bar bites like grilled Iberico pork jowl, washed down with Stella Artois, while singing karaoke in a private room.

It is a far cry from the spartan kopitiams and hawker stalls where pork rib soup is typically slurped with sips of kungfu tea.

A wave of new openings in 2024 and 2025 is reshaping the heritage dish. From Old Street's karaoke-and-bar-bites concept to En Yeoh's Japanese-accented take, bak kut teh is shedding its "uncle cuisine" image.

These joints bring air-conditioned comfort, broader menus and seafood options - all crafted for wider appeal.

MALAYSIAN-STYLE RISING Making the biggest waves is Malaysian-style bak kut teh, driven by nostalgia and recalibrated for local palates. Sellers of herbal broths have toned down the bitterness, scaled back the salt and swapped fatty cuts for leaner ones.

"It's more balanced now," says Mr Low Heng Kin, 38, who co-owns and runs Pin Xiang Bak Kut Teh at BreadTalk IHQ in Tai Seng.

The stall specialises in Ipoh-style bak kut teh with a lighter-textured broth compared with the Klang version. Mr Low is originally from Ipoh.

"We tested more than 20 herb combinations. Singaporeans don't want it too sweet or too bitter."

His broth, simmered for eight hours, includes 16 ingredients - 12 of them traditional Chinese herbs.

At L5 Bak Kut Teh in MacPherson, which opened in July 2024, father-and-daughter duo Wayne and Michelle Gong specialise in Klang-style bak kut teh. He is originally from Klang, while she is Singaporean.