You Can Take Johor, but Not Bak Kut Teh
My Malaysian friend draws the line at Singapore’s peppery soup.
One of the things that shocked me on my visit to Malaysia and Singapore was how different their famous versions of bak kut teh are, and how seriously people can take that difference.
The way my Malaysian friend talked about it, this was a bigger beef than who invented Hainanese chicken rice. You could let Singapore invade, he joked. You could even let them take Johor. But you could never let them take bak kut teh.
I thought that was so funny. The reactions from Malaysians to this are really interesting, too. The particularly pointed take is: Singaporean bak kut teh is good, but it’s not bak kut teh. It’s pepper soup.
The Singaporean style he was talking about is very peppery. What he considers essential to bak kut teh is the deep, dark soy sauce and the medicinal herbs in the herbal version. That dark, herbal broth is what he’s defending. The peppery soup is a completely different preparation.
He even showed me pictures to make his point. See, this is real bak kut teh. This color. Not that clear color. It was so funny that even the color of the broth was part of the argument.
So even saying the Singaporean version is good doesn’t quite settle the argument. It can be good. He just won’t let you call it bak kut teh.