So this, if I'm not wrong, is the one and only picture of bak kut teh from Song Fa that I have for the year of 2025 thus far.
How it is that I only have one picture, I don't know.
I eat their food quite often, and I have gone for meals at their outlets many a time.
The Centrepoint outlet, well, I haven't been in a while, but the Suntec City one, whether it be for lunch or dinner, yes, I have gone pretty much. So familiar are we with the crowd at both outlets that we know just the right time to hit it up.
It's like one is best to avoid the Suntec City outlet from 1130am to 1pm because the queue will be long and the wait will be at least 15 minutes, if not more. What makes the queueing here interesting is the crowd.
You'd think the place be frequented only by locals needing a midday boost.
No.
I've seen diners from China, from Hong Kong. I've also heard Thai being spoken, and in recent days, Japanese and Korean too.
I myself am surprised by their patience.
I'd walk away otherwise.
It's a little different for Centerpoint where, even though the queue might be long, the diners are mostly from a single tour group, and whilst they might number to 15 or 20 or even 30, the staff are always quick at sorting groups out and visitors tend to not hang around long, just eat up, and go.
Guess in recent weeks I haven't been taking as many pictures of my meals as I ought to.
But one can consider it progress, I should say, when a person like me begins to appreciate the Teochew version clear soup style of bak kut teh and even think of it as an everyday meal even though it isn't the kind of meal that, growing up, I would automatically go for.
I mean, there's no emotional resonance between bak kut teh, and me.
Yet I have reached a phase of life where, say, between choosing one place or another, I decide that my tummy feels happier and warmer(!) when having a meal of clear peppery soup instead of hard rice accompanied by something stewed or fried.
Life is interesting, isn't it?
Where at one time I was no fan of pork ribs in soup, now I've come to appreciate just how tender the meat is, how fun (and shiok) eating a pork rib can be when the meat falls easily off the bone and you can choose whether to eat it by hand, or wrestle it with chopsticks and Chinese soup spoon.
I tend to eat it with etiquette but sometimes I can't be bothered, and dig in with my hands instead.
Doesn't make a difference to the taste, but makes a difference it does to the fun.
What I like most about the meat is the bit of chew.
It's not overly tender, as in, it doesn't melt in the mouth and disappear.
Neither is it so tough that it becomes dry and tasteless.
There's just that bit of chew that one gets, and it makes for a great feeling when dipped in soy sauce.
I tend not to dip a lot.
Too much soy sauce overwhelms the natural flavor of the pork.
The highlight of a meal here at Song Fa Bak Kut Teh, however, has to be the youtiao.
I absolutely love them.
More so when during the dinner hour they give you a bowl filled with fatter chunks of the dough fritter.
My friend eats them crisp.
I, however, prefer dunking them pieces of cut-up fritter into the soup and letting it all soak in.
Sure, the pieces might be all floppy and lumpy and soft, but there's something lovely about having the taste of the peppery herbal soup combine with the savory, slightly salty taste, and texture of the dough.
It's comforting.
And so good is it that I have to come to appreciate it more.