Herbal goodness at Pao Xiang Bak Kut Teh

PAO XIANG BAK KUT TEH
2G, Jalan PJU 5/22,
The Strand Kota Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Business Hours: (Mon-Fri) 9.30am-10.30pm
(Sat-Sun and Public Holidays) 9.00am-10.30pm
Tel: 03-6150 3028
Non halal.

IF THERE is one thing the people living in Klang can be proud of, it would be about their much sought-after bak kut teh which is often known as being the best in the Klang Valley.

However, with over 500 stalls and restaurants offering the same delicacy of stewed pork in herbal soup, it is certainly not easy to identify the best.

To complicate matters, Goh Kheng Tiong joined the pack with his very own restaurant Pao Xiang Bak Kut Teh, about five years ago in Taman Berkeley in Klang.

Goh said his restaurant started off as a small stall but eventually moved to a corner lot after more patrons came by the restaurant. Unlike most outlets, Goh said his only knowledge of bak kut teh was his love for the delicacy which he is a huge fan of.

“There were so many stalls around, so I decided to open one myself,” said the 36-year-old who is the director of the company.

With business taking off on a fast lane, Goh decided to venture out in a different style, which was to bring the brand into shopping malls as well as out of Klang town itself.

Funny enough his first stop was at Centro Mall just 500 metres away from his first shop serving the same menu but hoping to appeal to a different range of customers.

“Sometimes people don’t fancy going out to old fashioned bak kut teh stalls because of the noise. You will also be sweating while eating your meal in this weather.

“This is why air-conditioned restaurants are more popular especially among the younger working crowd and tourists,” he said when met at the Kota Damansara outlet recently.

To date, Pao Xiang has 16 outlets in the Klang Valley including one in Nex Mall, Singapore.

One of their popular dishes is the String Tied Meat which comes in four different sections of the pig; the Pork Knuckles (Ka Wan), Trotters (Ka Chak), Big Bones (Tua Kut) and Small Bones (Sui Kut).

Each portion is tied with a string when cooked to eliminate the fatty layers wrapped around it as well as to preserve the lean part of the meat.

Come taste it: Goh holding a traditional bowl with a caricature of his face imprinted on it.

“The meat turns out firmer, retaining all its sweetness and flavours when served in our herbal broth,” he said.

Unlike usual bak kut teh outlets, the meat portion served at Pao Xiang does not come in a huge pot but is served in small bowls with a tea light to keep the broth warm.

Each serving is also suitable only for one person, giving those in big groups the opportunity to order a variety and share the different dishes out together.

Besides pork, the restaurant also serves seafood such as fish maw, sea cucumber and abalone stewed in the same broth which Goh calls his valuable soup.

“Our soup is different from others as it thicker, using 15 different types of herbs and is more flavourful. You will definitely not feel thirsty after drinking it,” he said, adding that it is boiled for close to two hours in a pressure cooker.

Vegetables such as choy sum, yau mak, siew pak choy, tau fu pok and mushrooms are also available on the menu as side dishes.

Those who fancy Chinese tea when dining do not have to worry as the outlet offers eight different types of teas such as the 988 Cha Wong, Lao Shui Hsein, Pu Er, Kok Po and Tik Kuan Yin ranging from RM 5 to RM9 per pot.

This is the writer’s observation and not an endorsement by StarMetro.