Bak Kut Teh, and the Simmer Setting That Keeps the Broth Clear

Bak kut teh needs a bare simmer for 90 minutes to two hours, never a rolling boil, or the broth turns cloudy instead of clear. On an induction hob, holding that line means picking one of the lowest power steps after the initial boil and leaving it there, rather than nudging a gas flame that keeps drifting up on its own.

Recipe at a glance

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 100 to 130 minutes, including the blanch and toast, depending on rib thickness and how cold the ribs were before they went in
• Total time: about 2 hours 25 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings
• Appliance and setting: induction hob, highest power step to bring to the boil, then the lowest or second-lowest step to hold a bare simmer

Ingredients

• 1 kg pork spare ribs, cut into short lengths
• 1.8 litres water
• 40 g garlic cloves, peeled and left whole (about 1 bulb)
• 15 g whole white peppercorns, lightly cracked
• 5 g whole black peppercorns, lightly cracked
• 30 ml light soy sauce
• 10 ml dark soy sauce, for colour
• 5 g rock sugar (or 1 tsp regular sugar)
• 150 g fried beancurd puffs (tau pok), halved
• Salt, to taste

Method

1. Put the ribs in a pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a rolling boil on the induction hob's highest power step. Boil hard for 3 to 4 minutes, then drain and rinse the ribs under running water until the water runs clear. This step does more for a clear broth than anything that happens over the next two hours.
2. In a dry pot over medium heat, toast the cracked white and black peppercorns for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant.
3. Add the blanched ribs, garlic and toasted peppercorns to the pot with 1.8 litres of water. Bring back to a boil on the highest power step.
4. Switch to the lowest power step that still keeps the surface moving: small bubbles breaking only at the edge of the pot, not a rolling boil in the centre. Hold it there for 90 minutes to 2 hours, skimming off any scum that rises in the first 20 minutes.
5. Stir in the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and rock sugar. Taste and adjust with salt.
6. About 10 minutes before serving, add the beancurd puffs so they soak up the broth without turning to mush.
7. Serve hot with steamed rice or youtiao, and a small saucer of dark soy sauce with sliced chilli padi for dipping.

The ribs are ready when the meat pulls cleanly away from the bone with a fork but hasn't fallen apart, and the broth is a clear amber rather than a cloudy grey. Test at the 90-minute mark and keep going in 15-minute steps until it gets there. Thicker ribs and a colder starting pot both push the time toward the two-hour end.

What counts as a "bare simmer" on an induction hob?

A bare simmer is the point just below boiling, where small bubbles break gently at the surface and the pot never reaches the rolling, turbulent motion of a full boil. Cook's Illustrated's testing on stock clarity found that a rolling boil emulsifies fat and protein straight into the liquid, while a gentle simmer keeps them separate enough to skim and strain out. That difference is most of what separates a clear broth from a cloudy one.

Gas makes that line hard to hold, because a flame set low enough for a bare simmer tends to drift if a pot lid shifts or a draft crosses the burner. An induction hob's power step doesn't drift once it's set, and delivers the same output two hours in as it did at the start.

Why the first blanch matters more than the two-hour simmer

The scum that rises in the first few minutes of cooking pork or beef bones is denatured protein forced out of the meat by heat. Left in the pot, it breaks into particles too small to skim out later, and those particles are what makes a broth look cloudy, no matter how gently it simmers afterward. Blanching and rinsing the ribs before the real cook removes most of that protein while it's still one solid mass. That's why the first step matters more than however carefully the next two hours are managed.

Which induction hob to check if the low end matters to you

Not every induction hob offers the same resolution at the bottom of its power range. More steps between off and full power generally means a finer low end, which is what holds a two-hour simmer without creeping toward a boil.

Both are 60 cm hobs on paper, but the number that actually matters if you're replacing an existing hob is the cutout, not the nominal size. The Bosch PID631BB5E and the Mayer MMIH603FZ publish the same 560 x 490 mm aperture, despite the gap in how many power steps each one gives at the low end. If you're not sure your existing cutout matches either one, our guide on measuring for a hob cutout walks through it before you buy.

The wider range, including hobs with more or fewer steps than either of these two, is in induction hobs. For the broader case between induction and gas, including why gas still has the edge for wok cooking, see our guide on induction versus gas hobs.

Frequently asked questions