Chicken Kut Teh — Print Recipe

A peppery, herbal broth simmered with tender chicken pieces, garlic, and a proprietary blend of Chinese medicinal herbs including dong quai, cinnamon, and star anise — Singapore's beloved restorative soup.

Ingredients

1 kg chicken pieces (thighs and drumsticks)
2 heads garlic, separated into cloves
2 tbsp white peppercorns, cracked
1 packet herbal mix (dong quai, dang shen, yu zhu, goji berries, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves)
200g lettuce or watercress
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1.5L water
Salt
You tiao (fried dough sticks) for serving

Instructions

1 Blanch chicken pieces in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse.
2 Place blanched chicken, garlic cloves, cracked peppercorns, and herbal mix in a clay pot with fresh water.
3 Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook for 1 hour until the broth is fragrant and the chicken is fall-off-bone tender.
4 Season with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and salt.
5 Add lettuce or watercress in the last 2 minutes of cooking.
6 Serve in the clay pot with you tiao, steamed rice, and soy sauce with sliced chili on the side.

Did You Know?

This chicken version was developed for the significant portion of Singaporeans who prefer poultry, maintaining all the traditional herbal complexity of the original recipe.