Famed JB BKT Eatery Kota Zheng Zong Opens S’pore Outlet Today, Here’s A Sneak Peek

There are few things as comforting as a steaming bowl of bak kut teh — especially when you slurp up the soup and meaty pork ribs with some fluffy white rice. The dish (its name literally means ‘meat bone tea’ in Chinese) was said to be brought over to Southeast Asia by immigrants from Fujian, China, who concocted a dark broth by boiling pork with herbs, spices and soy sauce. The Teochews and Cantonese later adapted BKT into their own cuisines (the Teochew-style BKT with garlicky, peppery soup is more popular in Singapore).

In neighbouring Malaysia, the herbal BKT is favoured by the locals. Compared to Singaporean-style BKT, which is clean-tasting with just pork, pepper and garlic, the Malaysian version boasts a more robust, concentrated soup cooked in a claypot crammed with frills like mushrooms and tau pok. One of the country’s more well-known BKT joints is Kota Zheng Zong Bak Kut Teh, which has two outlets in Johor Bahru. We previously reported that it’s opening its first franchised Singapore outlet at Holland Village — it soft launches tomorrow (November 13) to the public at 6pm. 8days.sg drops by a day before the opening for a sneak peek.

The brand was founded in 1980 in Kota Tinggi by a hawker known as Mr Pang Kow, who hawked his claypot herbal bak kut teh from a roadside pushcart in Kampung Kelantan. He later handed his business to his son, who relocated the eatery to JB in 2018 and teamed up with his Malaysian business partner Gavin Lai (see below), 30, to expand the biz. There are currently two Kota Zheng Zong outlets in JB, in Taman Sentosa and Taman Nusa Bestari. Due to their proximity to Singapore, the eateries are frequented by Singaporean foodies.

Gavin (left in pic) is currently in town to oversee the opening of the local franchised Kota Zheng Zong branch. The franchise is owned by Singaporeans Levi Ho (centre), 36, and Derek Lai (right), 35. The duo is also respectively the CEO and operations director of F&B company K Food Holdings, which introduced other (mostly Korean) franchised brands to Singapore like Chir Chir Fusion Chicken Factory and NY Night Market.

Derek tells us he got to know Gavin after dining at Kota Zheng Zong in JB, and decided to bring the brand here. Gavin adds, “We had considered opening a Singapore outlet, and partnered [K Food Holdings] as they are experienced in running restaurants here.”

Kota Zheng Zong’s JB menu has been brought over in its entirety. Which means you can find its signature Malaysian-style claypot herbal bak kut teh here — including a luxed up version cooked with premium Spanish Iberico pork. Other popular KZZ dishes include White Pepper Pig’s Maw Soup and Braised Pig’s Trotter, all of which can be found here too.

The kitchen is helmed by local chefs, though Kota Zheng Zong JB has temporarily sent over its chef Ruben Nair a/l Veloo (pictured), 29, who has worked at the Nusa Bestari branch for a year, to train the local staff and cook here during the initial opening period.

Though it follows the rustic, old-school look of its JB eateries, Kota Zheng Zong Singapore is slightly fancier and comfier. The 88-seater has air-con (yay), marble tables and a ’gram-worthy BKT cart outside the shop in a nod to its humble hawker roots. Its kitchen counter (you get to peek at the claypot BKT simmering on stoves) is also designed to look like a quaint night market’s facade.

Vintage paraphernalia that one might find in longtime JB eateries, like retro calendars, a dial phone (remember this?) and glass Coke bottles decorate the space.

The food ​​​​​​​

While you can’t customise your order at most restaurants, you can do so here. A basic claypot of BKT comes with spare pork ribs, with the option of topping up to get “premium pork ribs” from a meatier part of the pig’s belly. You can also choose from four cuts of meat for your BKT: pork belly, pork ribs, pork tail and pork trotter. Can’t decide? Spam all four cuts, like we did. If you’re feeling extra, you can jazz up your soup with a 15ml shot of Shaoxing wine ($0.90), Hennessy VSOP ($3.90) or Martell Cordon Bleu ($10.90).

The Indonesian pork used here is mostly pretty shiok; the non-gamey ribs and trotters are meaty and tender, the pork tail cloaked in a chewy, gelatinous layer of skin. We also enjoy pecking at the button mushrooms and crispy sheets of fried beancurd skin that come with the soup, though we find the strips of pork belly too tough. We had high expectations for the famous soup, boiled for two hours with pork and 18 types of herbs like angelica roots and luo han guo. It’s not quite robust enough (new kitchen jitters?), and unfortunately too salty. We order a shot of Martell Cordon Bleu in our claypot, which infuses the soup with a boozy, tonic-like note. Worth the extra $11 upgrade once Kota Zheng Zong SG gets their soup right.

This is high SES bak kut teh with pork from black Iberian pigs, which are native to Spain and Portugal. They feed on acorns and are genetically fattier than other breeds, which explains why their meat has a distinctively nutty flavour with higher fat content. Kota Zheng Zong’s Iberico pork boasts the same nutty profile with melt-in-your-mouth fat. It would go well with an improved herbal soup (the same soup for the Herbal Claypot BKT is used for this).

We also previously reported that this dish requires pre-ordering with a waiting time of at least 40 minutes. Good news, towkay Derek tells us customers won’t have to pre-order or even wait as long here. He explains, “The Iberico bak kuk teh is cooked from scratch only upon order in JB ’cos most customers there tend not to order [pricey] Iberico pork, and it’d be a waste to prepare too much [if there’s no demand]. But we’re anticipating more orders for it here, so we’ll start cooking it [even before the orders come in] so customers don’t have to wait so long.”

The same delish Iberico pork is cooked in a broth liberally spiked with Sarawak white pepper (the state famously produces some of the best peppercorns in the world). The soup is indeed much feistier (though less garlicky) than the Singaporean-style BKT we’re used to. Pretty exciting for our palate, though like herbal soup, it’s oddly too salty again.

Meaty, fatty chunks of braised pig’s trotter luxuriate in a soy sauce-based stew (you’d want to get a bowl of warm white rice to mop up the yummy juices). This is solid, sinful comfort food.

We’re usually averse to pig’s maw (aka pig’s stomach); we’ve had too many bad versions with a pungent porky odour. The pig’s maw here (in the same white pepper BKT soup as the Iberico pork), however, is fresh, springy and clean-tasting. It’s easy to hoover a bowl by yourself, especially if you love offal.

A large slab of mackerel fish otah, made in Singapore by a supplier using a Muar recipe. It’s too mushy and bland for our liking, sadly.

Fans of Kota Zheng Zong BKT in JB may be relieved to know they no longer have to contend with the notorious Causeway traffic jam to get their BKT fix. The local outlet here is air-conditioned and comfy (though, like Singapore-Malaysia exchange rate, the menu is almost three times pricier than JB’s). The tender, meaty pork and offal here are expertly cleaned and cooked, but the herbal and white pepper soups here seem to be suffering from a case of new kitchen jitters during our visit (Kota Zheng Zong had graciously opened its restaurant to us for a special preview in the midst of preparing for its soft opening). Once the kitchen gets on track, this restaurant is one of the few places in Singapore where you can makan authentic Malaysian-style herbal BKT in a claypot.

15A Lor Liput, S277730. Open from 6pm on November 13. Open daily Sun-Thur 11am-10pm; Fri & Sat 11am-11pm. Last orders 30 mins before closing. www.facebook.com/pg/ZhengZongBKTsg.

PHOTOS: MARK LEE