meat and peanuts

Reading: meat and peanuts

Read Next: little plate of cute: steamed red paste buns

01.05.2011

meat and peanuts

The bak kut teh made of “half fat pork” at Lot 10 Hutong

Every time I think that my love of pork is borne out of being raised in the Deep South, where bacon is king, I’m reminded that my cultural heritage might have something to do with it, too.

On one of my jaunts to Hutong Lot 10, our favorite hawker food court in town, I stopped by to get my usual pork belly bak kut teh, which literally translated means “meat bone tea.” That’s essentially what bak kut teh is: pork simmered in a blend of soy sauce and herbal tea. On this particular day, though, my friendly hawker man had sold out of my usual pork belly, and he offered me a substitute. Sadly, i couldn’t understand what he said because I don’t know all the words for various cuts of meat. Oh, if only there was a “Chinese 101: Frequently Used Butchering Terms” class I could take; I’d sign right up.

6a011570d70884970b0148c73e158a970c-600wi

Anyway, after much hemming and hawing over what the hawker was offering me, he pointed up to his signboard menu, which was printed in (duh) English. He was offering me something called “half fat pork,” and that’s exactly what it was: glorious ribbons of pork fat weaving in and out of my delicious little bowl of bak kut teh.

I also always steer myself toward the shaved ice stand called Iceroom, which serves up some of the most divine mango pomelo shaved ice. This time, however, I deviated from my normal routine and ordered the peanut shaved ice. I have good feelings about peanut ice ever since our visit to Beijing last summer, and I was dying to try a local version. Iceroom’s version is much lighter and decorated with black tapioca pearls, which in my mind make it a chewier, more fun version to eat. The version I had in Beijing was creamer and more sinful, though, and that’s never a bad thing, either.

Anyway, I’m glad that my return visit led to a meal of fatty pork and peanut shaved ice. That’s what I love about these hawker food courts — you can go again and again, and every time there’s something new to try.