Klang Bak Kut Teh

June 2006 was the month Jessica tied the knot. It was in KL & I booked this weekend like 1 year beforehand to attend her special day. During this trip to KL, I also met Aaron, a hostel friend too, who invited me to go for a bak kut teh trip to Klang, the day after Jess's wedding.

Klang, is appparently, THE PLACE for Bak Kut Teh. An old port city for the profitable tin industry, 45 mins drive away from KL, it's also the birthplace for this special PORKIE dish!I dont remember the name of the food stall we went too, but it's an old traditional non-aircon shophouse. We ordered both the dry & the soup version of Bak Kut Teh. And along with these 2 bowls, we got to brew our own chinese tea. Each table is served with a make-shift small stove and the terracota teapot put on a bench, beside the typical food stall round table. Aaron told us that the real 'connaisseurs' will bring their own tea sachet & brew it here to accompany the food.

Well, I got to tell you that the dish tasted so delicious! I dont know what kind of spices they put in it, cause I'm not good at cooking, but it the dry one looks black - probably some soya sauce & chinese herbs + a little bit of shrimp paste (at least I could recognize this flavour). The soup one has also some browny colour but less concentrated. So far the signature malaysian dish I've most heard is the Penang Laksa, but I dont really like spicy food & asian noodles are not my favourite either. So tasting this Bak Kut Teh is like discovering another side of Malaysia for me & a 'tongue-opener' for what kind of (other) wonderful food my neighbouring countries may have. What a treat to my taste buds!

Btw, Singapore also has its Bak Kut Teh but apparently when they brought the recipe down from Klang, along the way, the spices & herbs got less & less, so by the time it reaches SG, it's just pork & soya sauce. haha... no offense, this is probably another singaporean joke.