Sin Heng Claypot Bak Koot Teh - Two BKT Styles, Bib Gourmand

At a time when most bak kut teh stalls in Singapore commit firmly to either the peppery Teochew broth or the herb-forward Hokkien style, Sin Heng Claypot Bak Koot Teh in Joo Chiat does both — serving each in a claypot that arrives still bubbling at the table. The eatery traces its origins to the 1980s, when two sisters transitioned from seamstress work to hawker cooking, eventually drawing in other family members and planting roots along Joo Chiat Road.

Now in its second generation, the establishment has carried its founding recipes into a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition, a distinction awarded to eateries offering quality food at value pricing. The menu spans both BKT styles alongside a broad spread of zi char dishes, making it a rare spot that covers an entire table’s worth of local food under one roof.

Special Bak Koot Teh — from $10

The Special Bak Koot Teh is the stall’s flagship dish, served Hokkien-style in a claypot with a broth built on dark soya sauce and a blend of herbs. The result is a soup that skews sweeter and more fragrant than the peppery Teochew variety, a flavour profile less commonly found across Singapore. The claypot arrives loaded with pork ribs alongside lettuce, corn, button mushrooms, and fried beancurd skin, making it a more substantial and layered serving than the standard bowl. The broth is refillable, and the claypot vessel keeps the contents hot throughout the meal.

Classic Bak Koot Teh — from $10

For diners who prefer the more familiar peppery broth, the Classic Bak Koot Teh is prepared Teochew-style, with pepper and garlic forming the base of the soup. Like its Hokkien counterpart, it arrives in a claypot with pork ribs cooked to a tender texture. The two styles sit side by side on the menu, allowing a single table to order both and compare the distinct character of each broth — a setup that reflects the kitchen’s dual heritage and technical range.

Innards Soup — $9 / $12

The Innards Soup draws from the same peppery bak kut teh broth used in the Classic, using it as the base for a claypot of pork offal including pork liver. The dish is served for diners who prefer the more textural and varied cuts of pork over straight rib portions. The broth carries the same pepper-forward profile of the classic BKT, giving the innards a well-seasoned and familiar flavour base.

Claypot Sesame Oil Chicken

The Claypot Sesame Oil Chicken is one of Sin Heng’s most noted zi char offerings, featured in the Michelin Guide alongside the BKT as a highlight of the menu. Chicken wings are cooked in sesame oil, which renders a sauce with nutty aroma and a mild sweetness. The claypot format retains the heat and concentrates the sauce as the dish sits at the table, deepening the sesame character with each serving.

Claypot Prawn with Vermicelli — $16 / $22

The Claypot Prawn with Vermicelli arrives in a broth-based preparation with large prawns and glass vermicelli cooked together in the claypot. The vermicelli absorbs the prawn broth as the dish cooks, resulting in strands that carry the flavour of the stock throughout. The portion scales up with the price tier, and the dish draws consistent orders alongside the BKT as a companion claypot item.

Claypot Noodles — $6

The Claypot Noodles are served in dark sauce with egg noodles cooked in the claypot over high heat, producing a wok hei character in the finished dish. The noodles are coated in a savoury dark sauce with a cracked egg and lard bits incorporated into the preparation. At $6 for a portion described by multiple diners as generous enough for two, the dish represents one of the better-value items on the menu.

Omelette — $9 / $12

The Omelette is available in several variations — with minced meat, onions, chye poh, or prawns — cooked thick and fluffy in the style of a traditional fu yong egg. The chye poh version adds preserved radish for a salty, textural contrast within the egg, while the prawn version introduces a lighter seafood element. The dish functions as a straightforward zi char companion to the BKT-centred table.

Sambal Kang Kong — $9 / $12

The Sambal Kang Kong rounds out the vegetable options at Sin Heng, prepared as a stir-fried water spinach dish with sambal paste. It serves as the standard vegetable accompaniment to a BKT-centred table order, providing a counterbalance to the soup-forward dishes with a drier, spice-coated preparation.

You Tiao — $2.50

You Tiao is available as a side at Sin Heng, served separately to accompany the bak kut teh. The fried dough sticks can be eaten as they are or submerged into the BKT broth, where they absorb the soup and soften. The pairing of you tiao with bak kut teh is a long-standing convention at BKT tables across Singapore, and Sin Heng offers it at $2.50 per order.

Sin Heng Claypot Bak Koot Teh occupies a particular position in the Joo Chiat dining landscape — an eatery over four decades old that serves two distinct styles of pork rib soup alongside a working zi char spread, all out of a no-frills shophouse that stays open until late. Its 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition affirms the kitchen’s consistency across a broad menu, and the claypot format — applied not just to the BKT but to the chicken, prawn, and noodle dishes as well — gives the cooking a distinct character that carries through to the table.

Address: 439 Joo Chiat Road, #01-01, Singapore 427652
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10am – 11:30pm. Closed on Mondays.
Tel: 6345 8754