Aromatic braised pork rice & claypot natural BKT offered for less than 6 hours a day

How a lot of you like Malaysia’s natural rendition of bak kut teh over our peppery model? I, for one, am a fan of it. And so, seeking that, I headed to 93 Toa Payoh Lorong 4 Market & Food Centre, the place Tea Inn Bak Kut Teh is positioned.

The hawker stall is opened by 31-year-old Jenere, who has spent the final 5 years within the F&B business. He was beforehand working for a pal for 4 years at a BBQ seafood scorching plate joint at Yishun. Being an avid soup lover, Jenere determined to enterprise on his personal and begin promoting claypot natural bak kut teh.

Besides that dish, I additionally noticed different gadgets on the menu like braised pork trotters, sesame oil hen and extra. They cater primarily to the breakfast and lunch crowds, working from 8am to 2pm.

While he was busy working his magic within the kitchen, I had a chat along with his mum who was aiding him on the stall that day.

“He is very particular about his food standards. If it does not make the mark, he will throw it away and do a fresh batch”, she shared with me candidly.

After working for 14 years within the kitchen, I’ve seen my fair proportion of cooks taking brief cuts and settling for one thing that tastes sub par. And that is much more prevalent now, when meals costs are at a excessive and F&B companies are scrambling to seek out options to chop prices.

This goes to indicate that Jenere may be very devoted to his craft, and is set to serve solely the most effective to his prospects— I’ve tons of respect for him.

What I attempted at Tea Inn Bak Kut Teh

Pork trotters is one dish I hardly order. The Braised Pork Trotters (S$5.50) got here with one trotter which was doused in a soya sauce gravy and chopped up into items.

Let’s speak in regards to the thick viscous gravy that was jet black in color. My style buds picked up underlying hints of star anise, and a combination of various sorts of spices. It tasted prefer it had gone by lots of of trial runs as a result of it was completely balanced and sturdy tasting.

Jenere talked about that oyster sauce, 5 spice powder and dang gui are simply a few of the substances that go into this magical sauce.

“The rest are a trade secret, can’t reveal too much”, he replied cheekily.

The meat from the trotter had soaked up all of that phenomenal goodness coming from the gravy proper as much as the pores and skin, which took on a tempting caramelised shade of brown. The gelatinous texture of the pores and skin, fat and meat labored properly collectively like a close-knit household.

My eating companion and I felt that although the Braised Pork Trotters had been tender, it may nonetheless be extra braised, until it achieved the fall-off-the-bone stage.

We proceeded to the subsequent dish, the Braised Pork Rice (S$4). It had chunks of pork stomach, pickled mustard greens, plain rice doused in braised sauce gravy, and a sprinkling of fried shallots.

I proceeded to combine every little thing as much as steadiness out the completely different textures and substances. If you’re accustomed to having braised pork rice from Taiwan, you’ll discover that the model served right here is much less oily.

The meat-to-fat ratio of the pork stomach was 80/20, which allowed us to have extra with out feeling too overwhelmed with the “jelakness“. The addition of the pickled mustard greens and fried shallots gave various ranges of crunch, with a delicate acidic punch coming in steadily.

This was a easy no-frills type of dish which was completely up my alley. All the flavours and textures had been on level and I actually had no complaints about it— this was my favorite up to now!

We ended our lazy Tuesday lunch with the Claypot Herbal Bak Kut Teh (S$5.50). It was served piping scorching in a claypot with thick chunks of pork ribs, enoki mushrooms, and paper-thin items of bean curd pores and skin swimming in a natural broth.

The pork ribs had a colossal quantity of meat, and had been braised till fork-tender. The bean curd pores and skin wasn’t overly boiled and launched small quantities of natural broth into my mouth which it had absorbed. This ingredient could be good when you had been misplaced in a desert!

The enoki mushrooms gave the dish a satisfying crunchy mouthfeel. It received me pondering that each dish has completely different parts that are there for a purpose. That’s why meals is greater than only a technique of satisfying starvation— it’s an expertise.

“What sorcery is this?” I believed to myself after I dunked my pork ribs into the darkish soya dip. A better grade of darkish soya sauce might be used right here. It possessed this fragrant smokiness which enveloped the meat, and proceeded to hit me with tiny sensations of spiciness coming from the chilli padi.

Perhaps my solely gripe about this dish could be the natural broth. There was a presence of herbs within the style however I needed it was barely stronger and had been simmered longer.

Final Thoughts

In the previous, I’d solely get the prospect to eat natural bak kut teh in faraway locations like JB. I’m truly glad that I discovered a superb hawker stall promoting this specific dish at Toa Payoh and we have now extra choices accessible in different components of Singapore.

Jenere shared that he’s enhancing alongside the way in which by gathering suggestions (mine included) from his prospects.

With such a optimistic angle and open mindset coupled with wallet-friendly costs, this place received my coronary heart over. I look ahead to returning to Tea Inn Bak Kut Teh for a meal with my foodie pals.

Expected injury: S$4 – S$6.50 per pax

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