A different kind of tea time with actress Kym Ng at Pek Sin Choon and Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh

My next Makan Kakis guest in gluttony is no stranger to food or fame, having presented wildly popular TV shows such as City Beat, Ah Ma Can Cook and Old Taste Detective. The recent Star Awards Best Actress winner has more credentials than a buffet spread, while mine could fit on a side plate – so it was with butterflies in my stomach that I met with bilingual superstar Kym Ng. She had agreed to play guide and translator on our hunt for excellent bak kut teh.

The local delicacy of pork rib soup literally means “meat bone tea”. Emphasis on the tea, as I soon discovered.

PEK SIN CHOON

Our first destination was Chinese tea merchant Pek Sin Choon, where we learnt how integral tea is to the evolution of bak kut teh. Just shy of a century old, the company supplies tea to over 80 percent of Singapore’s bak kut teh establishments, largely thanks to the efforts of fourth-generation owner Kenry Peh.

But Pek Sin Choon’s history goes back a little further to his family’s tea-farming roots in China at the end of the 19th century. And by 1910, following the death of his great-grandfather, Kenry's great-grandmother Bai-Zhuang Dan Niang moved to Singapore in search of a better life.

Together with her son Pek Kim Aw, she played a pivotal role in transforming the family’s trade from tea farmers to tea merchants. Sepia-toned pictures of Kenry’s ancestors adorn the tea shop walls, including one of the formidable matriarch who started it all. The bound feet of his great-grandmother were a powerful image of her resilience and fortitude through desperate times.

By 1925 (the Year of the Buffalo in the Chinese zodiac), the family’s first tea shop was established at George Street by Pek Kim Aw. According to family lore, his nickname was “Buffalo Head” due to his principled nature. The family’s charmingly retro trademark of a cowherd riding on a buffalo pays tribute to both. Pek Sin Choon is a combination of the family name and the Chinese words for new spring, symbolising their hopes for new beginnings and a prosperous future.

Those hopes became reality and the brand has become a leader in Singapore’s Chinese tea market. In 1998, Pek Sin Choon moved to their current location along Mosque Street and under Kenry’s stewardship, the brand has left an indelible mark on Singapore’s F&B history. However, the one thing that keeps the family rooted to their humble beginnings is Nanyang tea.

In the past, tea leaf shipments were inconsistent due to unpredictable harvests and logistical challenges. “Because of survival we had to blend (teas from) the north and the south of Fujian so that it became something unique here,” Kenry shared, revealing that this is where the connection between his family’s Nanyang tea and bak kut teh began.

Every pork rib soup meal usually begins with gongfu tea (tea made with skill), a ritual characterised by the use of smaller teapots, a shorter brewing time and a higher leaf-to-water ratio than the Western-style.

As tea merchants, Pek Sin Choon supplies different Nanyang tea blends to different bak kut teh establishments, but all are oolong-based and usually consist of three types: Dancong (single stem tea), Yancha (rock tea from the Wuyi Mountains, China’s famed UNESCO World Heritage Site) and Tie Guanyin (Iron Goddess of Mercy from Anxi County in Southern Fujian province). 

“Dancong will give you a higher fragrance, rock tea will give you more aftertaste and the Tie Guanyin actually has the best of both worlds. So the tea blend is about what you want your cup of tea to be,” Kenry explained, starting us off on our gongfu tea ceremony.

That day, I learnt three new things:

1. Hot water is also poured all over the exterior of the teapot. “Just to even up the temperature inside and outside,” said Kenry.
2. Some teapots come with “armour”, a protective wire frame wrapped snugly around its exterior. A practice leftover from the past when pottery was of inferior quality and prone to breaking.
3. The proper way to hold a teacup is poetically known as “san long hu ding”, or “three dragons guarding the tripod”. The dragons symbolise the thumb and index finger grasping the teacup, with the middle finger supporting its base.

According to Kenry, in the 1920s, tea served with bak kut teh was usually offered for free and tended to be of “the cheapest and lowest range”. But the Pek Sin Choon strategy was to develop affordable yet superior teas to suit the local palate, so in the 1950s, a new blend was created. Founder Pek Kim Aw was lost for words when he tasted it, so he named the tea “Bu Zhi Xiang”, or Renowned Unknown Fragrance, to let the fragrance and flavour speak for itself.

“We call it gongfu tea because practise makes perfect. So we actually fine-tuned this tea and brought it to bak kut teh,” Kenry said, offering us a taste of his family’s signature brew.

Both Kym and I agreed that the tea was strong and robust. “But that goes well with your bak kut teh, with all the garlic, with all the herbs,” Kenry noted. “All the fats,” Kym added. Certainly, the dish needed to be balanced by a tea of equal intensity. It was also a tea that could withstand multiple infusions without losing flavour, perfect for lingering over a bak kut teh meal.

“Good food must come with a good tea,” Kenry declared with a smile.

NG AH SIO BAK KUT TEH

Kym and I were eager to put his words to the test at our next destination, a well-known bak kut teh establishment that Pek Sin Choon also supplies tea to.

Out of the many famous brand names in Singapore, Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh was Kym’s cheeky choice because like her, the owner is Teochew and though not related, they share the same surname. But she promised its taste was worth our visit to Rangoon Road, where the founder Mr Ng Siak Hai was meeting us for lunch.

His first instruction before we ate was: “Drink tea.” Another reminder of how intertwined the stories of Pek Sin Choon and Ng Ah Sio are. In the mid-1960s, Mr Ng would help his parents in their River Valley stall at the foot of Government Hill (known today as Fort Canning). lt was named Ng Mui Song Bak Kut Teh, after his father.

“My parents started selling pork ribs, but only a few kati [1 kati is equivalent to 600g]. Whenever they sold out, they would close the shop early. I asked my dad to buy more pork ribs, but he refused. His way of doing business was old-fashioned,” Mr Ng said in Mandarin.

Before taking over the stall in 1977, Mr Ng was a taxi driver but already brimming with ideas to further the family business. The stall relocated to New World Amusement Park and he extended the menu as well as opening hours to attract more diners.

“It’s important to designate a timing for customers. Otherwise, they come from afar and can’t eat, that’s not very good. If it sold out, I would ride my bicycle to the market to buy more pork ribs and cook it straightaway,” Mr Ng revealed. To distinguish his family’s distinctive bak kut teh from imitators, he followed in his father’s footsteps by renaming the new stall Ng Ah Sio Pork Ribs Soup Eating House after himself.

Fun Fact: Ah Sio is a malapropism. Mr Ng’s actual childhood nickname is Ah Soi, meaning "small” in Teochew. “I was a very small baby, that’s why they called me Ah Soi,” he said with a chuckle. The letters were mixed up in the registration process but the name has stuck ever since.

A little self-promotion and a whole lot of hard work paid off for Mr Ng, as his bak kut teh stall began packing in crowds. When New World shuttered in 1988, Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh moved to its present location. These days, celeb photo walls are par for the course at famous eateries, but it was still fun to play spot-the-stars – Hong Kong singer-actor Kenny Bee, Taiwanese show host Jacky Wu and Singapore’s Stefanie Sun, to name a few. We even found a photo of Kym taken many moons ago and had a giggle over it. 

The laughter got louder when I confessed I thought the “sio” in the restaurant’s name meant “hot” in Teochew, because that’s how best to enjoy bak kut teh. Only the latter was true, so we got down to savouring the soup, which was clear, yet rich and boldly peppery. Kym and I agreed that this was the kind we preferred over herbal-style bak kut teh. Whole garlic cloves and white pepper in sinus-clearing amounts gave the broth a piquancy I really enjoyed, its spiciness mitigating any porky pungency.

“Yes, very intense. Very shiok,” was Kym’s verdict.

The soup is still made according to his father’s original recipe, which Mr Ng didn’t take long to master. “Bak kut teh is just cooking pork ribs. Nothing to it. I can teach you,” he said nonchalantly.

To our surprise, he rattled off a list of simple instructions. “Fill half a pot with water. Put in the garlic, pepper and pork ribs. Once it comes to a boil, add some salt. Then, skim the impurities from the surface of the soup and you’re done.” 

Easy for a seasoned expert to say. We were fairly certain he had kept some secrets to himself. “If I tell you everything, then next time you’ll open your own stall. Huang Zhong Qin (Kym Ng) Bak Kut Teh,” Mr Ng quipped.

Though the soup recipe remains untouched, Mr Ng has made changes to keep up with evolving tastes and customer demand. Previously, his father only sold pork ribs, pig tail and rice, but now the extensive menu includes different cuts of meat. The most coveted is the premium loin rib, also known as long gu (“dragon bone”) found in their signature S$12.80 set.

But really, you can’t go wrong with the superior pork ribs set (S$11.80), boasting a generous fat to meat ratio.

“Very tasty. See the fat here? That’s why after boiling, the pork becomes very soft,” Kym noted. Luscious and tender, this was a good choice eaten with white rice between dips of dark soya sauce infused with red chilli slices.

Spine, which was traditionally a cheaper cut favoured by labourers looking for a nutritious but affordable meal, is a leaner option. “Nowadays, people like to eat these parts because they are not fatty,” Mr Ng shared.

Even without any meat, the invigorating and warming broth would have been delicious enough to enjoy on its own. But again, Kym and I were in agreement that non-negotiables were salty-sweet chye buay (preserved vegetables for S$3.80) and you tiao (dough fritters for S$2.20). “It acts like a sponge, so you dip it in the soup and put it in your mouth and all the soup is like, wow, bursting out,” she enthused.

In a larger group, I would have been tempted to order more from the menu of Teochew braised specialties but was delighted to have the platter of big intestines ($8.80) all to myself. If a bak kut teh set doesn’t fill you up, homemade ngoh hiang (deep-fried pork roll) or Teochew style braised pig trotter rice with onsen egg should do the trick.

A born businessman, Mr Ng’s longevity in the bak kut teh business boils down to his tenacity and adaptability. When Kym remarked that he really seemed to enjoy selling bak kut teh despite the long hours and hardships, Mr Ng replied with a twinkle in his eye, “Because I can earn money, that’s why I like it”.

His light-hearted banter belied his resolve to safeguard his family’s food legacy for generations to come. Since 2008, he has made retail packs of tea and his bak kut teh spice mix available for home cooks. In 2010, the Jumbo group of restaurants (Mr Ng is a founding shareholder) acquired the brand and though now officially retired, he remains the name and face of Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh.

With plans for local and global expansion in place, there are now outlets on Hainan Island in China and at Clarke Quay Central, a new location not far from his father’s original stall. Quite the full circle moment for Mr Ng. Taking stock of his achievements, he said: “I was once just a street hawker selling food by the five-foot way. I’ve come a long way and I feel very fulfilled.”

Pek Sin Choon Pte Ltd is located at 36 Mosque St, Singapore 059514. It’s open Mondays to Saturdays from 8.30am to 6.30pm.

Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh is located at 208 Rangoon Rd, Hong Building, Singapore 218453. It’s open daily from 9am to 9pm.

Catch Makan Kakis with Denise Tan every Thursday from 11am on MediaCorp GOLD 905.