Leon Kee Pork Rib Soup

My friend told me that he has been eating 'Bak Ku Teh' from "Leon Kee" since his younger days and they are simply fantastic. Till now, he can still vaguely remember the taste of the 'Bak Ku Teh'. So, in order to help him 'recapped' the taste of his special 'Bak Ku Teh', we decided to make a long trip to Alexandra.

When we reached Alexandra, it was already evening time. We prayed hard that the store is still opened at this timing as most of the hawkers tend to open only half a day during weekends. Surprisingly, as we walked into Alexandra Food Centre, there were quite a fair bit of crowd and "Leon Kee" was opened.

"Leon Kee" was situated near the carpark area of the Alexandra Food Centre. Although there were two stalls selling 'Bak Ku Teh', it would not be difficult to find out which is the more popular one. One will be able to find "Leon Kee" signature claypot on most of the diners' table. Perhaps it is its long history or maybe it is its taste that made it more popular with the diners there.

Beside 'Bak Ku Teh', they sell quite a variety of other soups. Of course the more popular one will have to be their pork rib soup (also known as the 'Bak Ku Teh'). The pork rib soup comes in three different type of sizing, namely the small, medium and large. Each was tagged to a different pricing ranging from 4 to 8 bucks.

The pork ribs and soup were basically cooked beforehand. So when the order came in, they would combine both of the ingredients into the claypot and boil them at a high temperature. Once done, the entire claypot will be served. Of course, one needs to be extra caution when it comes to eating directly from the claypot as it can be quite hot at the rim of the claypot.

We ordered the small sized 'Bak Ku Teh' and it basically comes with three pieces of pork ribs. These pork ribs are considered big chunks as compared with the other 'Bak Ku Teh' that I have eaten. However, I find that their pork ribs were bit too fatty and as for the pork, it was reasonably soft. As for the 'Bak Ku Teh' soup, I find it pretty mild. There was no strong peppery taste or herbal taste. In order to have bit more spicy soup, we put in the freshly cut chilli, which manage to blend with the 'Bak Ku Teh' surprisingly well.

Accompany the 'Bak Ku Teh' would be the ‘you tiao’. Their ‘you tiao’ lacks the crispiness and it tasted very soft and oily. Personally, I do think the ‘you tiao’ is a must-have item when eating 'Bak Ku Teh'. As such, if the ‘you tiao’ is not tasty, it would spoil the entire dining experience of the 'Bak Ku Teh'. Thus, I would advice one to purchase their own ‘you tiao’ if possible before going for their 'Bak Ku Teh'.

They also provide a small quantity of dark soya sauce and chilli for the 'Bak Ku Teh'. However, I find the quantity too little; as such I need to make few attempts to get more sauce and chilli. Perhaps, it may be a good choice to choose a seat near them.

Their service was alright and we do not need to wait for long before our food was served. However, we were pretty upset when they reject to refill the 'Bak Ku Teh' soup for us. Honestly, I do feel that if they would provide unlimited refill of soup, it would definitely make our whole dining experience more enjoyable.