Pineapple tarts are good and love letters are, well, lovely — but it ain’t Chinese New Year if you aren’t bingeing on bak kwa. These glistening squares mottled with blackened char marks are sweet, savoury, umami, meaty and gratifyingly greasy in a way a cookie never will be. It’s manna from the CNY snack heavens — but only when you encounter a piece worthy of the (exceedingly high) calories, of course. We know the pain of excitedly biting into a slice only to find it depressingly dry and blah. So, because we believe in making your CNY snackage a blissful experience, the 8 DAYS foodie team risked clogging their arteries by chomping on stack upon stack of bak kwa from 16 brands — both chain stores plus mom-and-pop ones — and ranking them, starting with our least fave (scroll to the bottom for our #1 pick).
We quietly bought the same item across all 16 brands undercover: traditional sliced barbecued pork — the classic cut of bak kwa favoured by most Singaporeans (besides the cheaper, softer minced pork version). It’s typically made by slicing entire sheets of pork from the creature's hind leg. This treat, which originated from Fujian in China, is then marinated with a myriad of seasonings such as soy sauce, fish sauce, honey and sugar before being grilled to a gloriously smoky finish.
The three of us on the tasting panel guzzled plenty of water between bites to cleanse our palates, bickered a little when we disagreed on what we liked, and finally, after much debate, came to a consensus on the ranking. Previously, the brand that emerged #1 on our list was head and shoulders above the rest. However, after recently updating the line-up, our newly crowned #2 this year stands pretty close behind the winner.
Without further ado, let’s begin with...
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1/331/33CHAI HO (RANKED #16) -
2/332/33Taste test -
3/333/33BEE KIM HENG (RANKED #15) -
4/334/33Taste test -
5/335/33SANG HOCK GUAN (RANKED #14) -
6/336/33Taste test -
7/337/33FRAGRANCE (RANKED #13) -
8/338/33Taste test -
9/339/33KIM HOCK GUAN (RANKED #12) -
10/3310/33Taste test -
11/3311/33GOLDEN GOURMET BAK KWA (RANKED #11) -
12/3312/33Taste test -
13/3313/33KIM GUAN GUAN (RANKED #10) -
14/3314/33Taste test -
15/3315/33NEW PENG HIANG (RANKED #9) -
16/3316/33Taste test -
17/3317/33KIM JOO GUAN (RANKED #8) -
18/3318/33Taste test -
19/3319/33XI SHI BAK KWA (RANKED #7) -
20/3320/33Taste test -
21/3321/33BEE CHENG HIANG (RANKED #6) -
22/3322/33Taste test -
23/3323/33NEW EASTERN KIM TEE DRIED & MINCED PORK (RANKED #5) -
24/3324/33Taste test -
25/3325/33KIM HWA GUAN (RANKED #4) -
26/3326/33Taste test -
27/3327/33LIM CHEE GUAN (RANKED #3) -
28/3328/33Taste test -
29/3329/33PENG GUAN (RANKED #2 - NEW THIS YEAR ON THE LIST!) -
30/3330/33Taste test -
31/3331/33KIM PENG HIANG (RANKED #1) — WINNER! -
32/3332/33Taste test -
33/3333/33Credits