My blogger friend in Singapore, Chef and Sommelier, asked me to tell him what 八珍猪脚 was when he saw it on the banner of the coffee shop that I was blogging about the other day. Oops!!! That was Greek to me but these days, it really isn’t much a problem. I resorted to the help of Google Translate and I got “Bazhen Pig” and clicking on the first word for the alternative translations, I got “Eight Treasures”. Ahhhhhh!!!! It dawned on me there and then that, in fact, that was pek ting eyok pork in Mandarin characters.
It has never been my favourite even though this herbal delight is very popular around here. Pek means eight and eyok means medicine or herbs while ting, if I’m not mistaken, means steam or double boil or something along those lines. The name alone would give you an idea how it is cooked but I’m afraid I would very much prefer those medicinal roots that I had not too long ago.
Anyway, to let my friend know what it is like, I made my way to this coffee shop near my house and ordered a bowl (RM8.00)…
Good grief! It certainly is by no means cheap…but never mind! I don’t think I would have it again…or at least, not so soon.
There you are – the Eight Treasures or pek ting eyok pork trotters…
I would say it was quite nice as the one here seemed to be a little bit watered down. Of course, when you’re in the business of selling this, you would not be all that generous with the herbs and would probably dilute the soup as far as possible but I would say that it was all for the better. When my missus cooked it, it was rather sweet or tangy with the lemon peel in the combination of herbs and I can’t say that I like that very much. I find it very much nicer this way…and I wouldn’t mind having that sometime should I happen to be looking for something different for a change.
I did enjoy the mee sua...
…and the coffee was good too…
…and if you may recall, the kampua noodles here aren’t too bad as well and are cheaper than some other places in town.
All things considered, this is one good place to stop by for a bite and for coffee instead of making your way to that once-very-popular place further up the road in Sungai Merah. Just don’t order the dim sum…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Herbal pork trotter soup? Not sure if my translation is correct 😛
Search me! 😛
I also dont like this pek ting soup. Tried on kampung chicken and duck but never on pork. Tasted few times and each time, I fall sick after that. Lol.
Too heaty for me.
I guess so. I once asked a lady selling these things in pre-packed bags, going from coffee shop to coffee shop – she got them from Sarikei – and she told me that people eat this for enjoyment only, no real health benefits. I wouldn’t know…as I hardly ever eat it. The first time I tried, my friend’s MIL cooked it with duck and I loved it. Not too fond of it with chicken…and I don’t really care for trotters cooked in soup – the sight of the pale skin puts me off.
I quite like herbal soups. Might like this one too since it has pork trotters 🙂
Not bad, the favourite of many but not mine.
Must be very “poe”… er.. very.. how to say in English.. “Enhancement to the body?” So how did you feel after drinking it?
Nothing…and hopefully, that’s not because of my advanced age. Hehehehehehe!!!! 😉
Did u sing negaraku the next morning?
She cannot lah. If you eat, then the next morning, sure can hoist up the flag liao lor…or mamakucing can do pole dancing! 😀
Good stuff. I like it with duck. Never taken it with coffee though. Not sure whether they go together.
Dunno. What drink is this supposed to go with? Not Chinese tea, I’m sure. They say that will “wash” away everything. Ya, I like it with duck too! You cook that in the house when you come home to Sibu. Next time, tapao a bit for me lah! My missus doesn’t eat duck so no hope for me of ever having that. 😦
Will do, Arthur. Maybe even Dec.
Fingers crossed, hopefully… 😉
Good morning STP…
Morning.
Mee sua in pek ting eyok, ermm…I would go for chicken soup & red wine but pek ting eyok with duck is absolutely out of this world. Prefer the broth to be a bit diluted too.Yummy!!!
Me too! My missus doesn’t eat duck and they do not sell that in the shops, so end of story. 😦
no thank you, don’t like 八珍 or 猪脚 at all.. :p
Not really into herbal stuff either, not even bak kut teh but don’t mind eating once in a while – something different for a change.
Did we have that? Looks good… Wt my current stuffy nose…
Nope, you didn’t. KIV that and all those that you did not get to try – don’t miss out those the next time around. Air Asia having a sale on Sunday 13th October, flying straight away…not half a year later. Try your luck!!!
I like herbal soup but not with pork, not a fan of pork, but chicken or seafood are fine
I suppose you’re not into bak kut teh as well then? That’s herbal too…or you go for the halal version – the chick kut teh? 😉
Wheww .. finally I had a breather to comment.
In my family, we usually had Ba Zhen with pork trotter or duck. Never with chicken. But I myself did cook it with chicken as pork trotter or duck are harder to obtain. hehehe
I also found some interesting discrepancy how West Malaysians and Sarawakians view on Ba Zhen. In S’wak, it is for the whole family, while in WM it’s their conception that only ladies drink Ba Zhen. The guy will be drinking 十全 (Shi Quan / zup juan). Add 2 more herbal to Ba Zhen, namely 黃芪 and 肉桂 will make it Shi Quan.
Ba Zhen generally more ‘heaty’ and known to enrich and replenish blood, that’s why it’s more suitable for ladies. However, when we get our supplies from chinese herbal store, we will requested the less ‘heaty’ version.
ps. The ‘Ting’ in Pek Ting Eyok, is not referring to any cooking method. Pek Ting is Ba Zhen which means Eight Treasures, which referring to eight types of herbal ingredients. Steam in Foochow is ‘Chui’ and double boil is ‘Dunn’ :p
Yes, yes…in Hokkien, it is tunn also…so I just made a wild guess and looks like I was wrong and tunn can never be ting! Muahahahahahaha!!!! 😀 That sounds kind of funny.
Wow!!! I’m impressed! You certainly are knowledgeable about this thing. Oh…to replenish blood, eh? No wonder ladies are supposed to eat this once a month. Hmmmm….perhaps we should cook this for my daughter at the appropriate time then, should be good for her.
My missus cooked with chicken a long long time ago and since nobody liked it and my father grumbled about the “horrible smell”, she stopped altogether. That was many many years ago when we first got married, never cooked it again since.
That’s easy coz, I’m S’wakian and hubby is WM … hahahah
Hubby hates Ba Zhen too, though I’m got nothing against it. I usually keep a pack of Ba Zhen in the fridge, thinking that maybe someday, I’ll cook it. Unfortunately, that poor pack of Ba Zhen usually end up rotting away, unless I give it away .. haiz …
Oh ya, I remembered my mom add some dark soya sauce to make the soup sweeter ..I guess the idea is saltiness will enhance the sweetness.
Oh? Your hubby doesn’t like it. I guess it’s an acquired taste and either you love it or you don’t. Ya, I remember when my missus cooked it, it was very dark…and kind of sweet.
Cute serving pot.
I thought it was very nice too….though I would prefer those in blue & white.
Water down? Soup still look pretty thick.
No, not very strong. You should see the one my missus cooked before…
Don’t order the dim sum? such an ominous warning, hehehe
Tried that once, wasn’t worth the calories.
The bowl is so cute, because normally they just serve it with plain white bowl!!! =]
Yes, and at a coffee shop some more. I’ve seen them using such bowls for the double boiled black chicken with dried scallops soup at banquets in some restaurants…but those would be the special extra-expensive ones. Cheaper ones, they just serve in a big bowl and you help yourself using your small melamine or plastic bowls. 😦
Huh Arthur! Thank you so much for trying out and sharing this dish with us!
Grandma used to cook similar herbal soup for our dinner when I was a boy and staying at her place. She would cook extra so that we could have mee sua with the soup the next day for breakfast. Miss those days…
Thanks again for being such a sport!
Welcome. Well, at least, I got to enjoy eating it. Hehehehehe!!!! 😉 Ya…when I cook our traditional Foochow red wine chicken soup, I would want to cook a bit more also so there will be some left over for a mee sua breakfast the next morning. Yummmm!!!!
My favourite soup!!!!! I can have it everyday, and won’t feel heaty. Maybe my body use to it, i had it since young. I still have a few packets from Sarikei ( yes, my mum said from Sarikei one more thick and sweet). I should cook it with pork trotter one day, since hard to find duck here.
Wow, i so agree with “PT1225″‘s comment, Sarawak and here, they see Pek Ting Eyok differently. Here they boil from few bowls to a bowl and drink it, only for ladies and not for whole family. Men will think I am mad if I ask them to drink the soup. I cooked once in a while, Fearles love it, but not Cruz.
Love the bowl that they serve you the Pek Ting Eyok, very cute.
Ya, love the bowl too. Must go and look around – see if they have any nicer floral patterns or not. Ya…they say the Sarikei ones fresher as they sell out very fast, and cheaper too. Oh? Over there, they do it like that – just drink like medicine then? No wonder nobody likes it over there. Hahhh!!!! Your twins are so different in so many ways.
Well I do like the bowl it came in, that is so precious. I would want that to have around the house. The second dishes broth looks very savory. How was it?
It’s the dish served that bowl – the herbal soup….and then in the next pic, I held up the mee sua (Chinese thread noodles) that was inside it.
I mentioned before my mum cooks this with pork (not trotter but mixture of ribs and belly) and her version is quite thick, my foochow grandma’s version tends to be a bit tasteless and she uses kampung chicken (or at least that’s what I think la), I prefer the thicker version.
That must be the same as what my missus used to cook then. Very strong and the smell would fill the whole house.
LOVE that lil dish! So cute!
It was quite big actually but smaller than a soup tureen. A bit bigger than the size of a claypot, individual serving. Very nice, the bowl. I love it too.
interesting… never heard of this! looks very comforting…
Well, now you have. Seems they’re consumed differently in the peninsula, more as a traditional medicine. You’ll have to come over if you want to give it a go then…