Traditional Sliced Bak Kwa, $24 for 500g; $48 for 1kg

Backstory: Chai Ho’s customers typically visit this stall within a hawker centre in Clementi for its satay when it’s not the festive period. But come CNY, people throng the shop for its bak kwa too. When we naively trekked to the stall at 5.30pm, the goods were already sold out. We were told to return at 11am the next day, and had to join a line of eager people all waiting to buy bak kwa. It’s that popular. But the queue moved fast, and once it was our turn, we got our bounty from the pleasant stall assistant under two minutes.

Don’t flame us, Westies, but we can’t see why the bak kwa here is so popular. Each bright red square of barbecued pork is so thin, it’s almost translucent. The meat is also tough with a pungent porky pong. We say stick to eating the satay here.

#01-10 Clementi Market & Food Centre, 448 Clementi Ave 3, S120448. Open daily except Mon & Tues, 11am till stocks run out.

Sliced Pork Bak Kwa, $27 for 500g; $54 for 1kg (price increase unconfirmed at time of writing)

Backstory: A hawker stall at People’s Park Food Centre which has been around for almost 50 years. Its 84-year-old boss, Teo Ah Thin, still grills the bak kwa himself here. When we visited the shop, the sprightly uncle was sitting beside a giant grill, calmly flipping pieces of barbecued pork. It was his chatty wife who attended to us. When we mentioned that we hadn't tried Bee Kim Heng’s bak kwa before, she exclaimed: “You try! You sure come back to buy more!” Unlike its rival Kim Hwa Guan a few stalls away which boasted a long queue, there was no line at this shop during our visit.

If there’s a beauty pageant for bak kwa, Bee Kim Heng would probably win. Its bak kwa has an appealing reddish brown sheen, and comes in expertly-sliced squares of just the right thickness. Its taste, however, is less impressive: gamey, and leathery, to boot. Sorry, lady boss and cute old towkay, but pass.

#01-1010 People's Park Food Centre, Blk 32 New Market Rd, S050032. Tel: 6535-0735. Open daily 10am-8pm.

Sliced BBQ Pork, $29 for 500g; $58 for 1kg (fixed price)

An old-school shop burrowed in the heartlands of Ang Mo Kio. The family-run store was shrouded in charcoal smoke when we dropped by on a weekday at 8pm, where the staff was grilling up a storm.  

The best part about this handmade bak kwa is its quaint, retro packaging — it comes in a pretty box, and the pork is wrapped in bright pink paper reminiscent of the kind used to pack herbs in traditional Chinese medical halls. Speaking of herbs, there’s a faint but unpleasantly bitter edge to the bak kwa here, as if it were rubbed with some kind of TCM herb. But a quick check with a curmudgeonly auntie over the phone revealed that no such herbs were used to marinate the Indonesian pork. ("Ask so many questions for what?" she barked.) Texture-wise, it’s stiff and a chore to gnaw on. Plus points for the charred grill marks and rich amber hue, though. 

#01-446 Blk 163, Ang Mo Kio Ave 4. Open daily 10am-10pm daily, or till sold out. Tel: 6458-7374.

Sliced Tender Bak Kwa, $28 for 500g; $56 for 1kg (price increase unconfirmed at time of writing)

Backstory: This ubiquitous bak kwa chain started in 1969 as a family-run business and had, memorably, former actress Sharon Au as a celebrity spokesperson. It currently has 38 outlets islandwide. We dropped by its New Bridge Road outlet in Chinatown to buy our bak kwa (it’s beside a Lim Chee Guan outlet), and were immediately plied with free samples by the cheerful staff. The bak kwa is grilled fresh at each shop within an enclosed grilling room, and we could watch the cooking process at the outlet we visited.

The uniformly perfect sheets are a dull matte brown and paler compared to the bak kwa we bought from the other brands. There’s an earthy sweetness from its herbal marinade that we’re not fond of, plus a lingering aftertaste of oil. It’s not exactly pliant, and the meat could do with more moisture and chao tar bits. “It’s like eating not-shiok satay,” complains our colleague.

38 outlets including 205-207 New Bridge Rd, S059430. Tel: 6327-1961. Open daily 9am-10pm. www.fragrance.com.sg.

Traditional BBQ Sliced Pork, $28 for 500g; $56 for 1kg (fixed price)

Backstory: Kim Hock Guan is the oldest bak kwa specialist locally. It was opened in 1905 by Lim Chwee Guan, a Fujian native who relocated to Singapore and found himself missing his hometown’s delicacy, bak kwa. So he decided to introduce Hokkien barbecued pork to Singaporeans by setting up his first shop at Rochor Road in Bugis. His family-run business has since been passed down for five generations and currently has two outlets: one in Bugis, and another in Chinatown. The old-school high-ceilinged outlet at Fook Hai Building in Chinatown was empty when we visited on a Saturday afternoon, though we saw families trickling in to buy bak kwa on our way out.

The reddish brown slivers are sliced from lean hind leg meat. It’s extremely hard and rather dry, though according to the Kim Hock Guan website, the traditional-style bak kwa is meant to have a “chewy texture”. Tell that to our teeth, which is presently playing tug-of-war with the bak kwa in an attempt to grab a bite. Jaw ache-inducing texture aside, its flavour is pretty fab: smoky and savoury with just a hint of caramelly sweetness.  

Two outlets including #01-02 Fook Hai Building, 150 South Bridge Rd, S058727. Tel: 6535-2536. Open daily, Mon-Fri 10am-7pm; Sat 10am-8pm; Sun 11am-7pm. www.kimhockguan.com.sg.

Sliced Bak Kwa, $16.80 for 300g

Backstory: This young online-based brand was founded in 2018 by a pair of siblings, whose family ran a bak kwa stall in the ’80s. The siblings started helping their family out at the age of 6, and eventually established Golden Gourmet in their adulthood. It now has its own bak kwa production facility in Sembawang, and e-commerce shops on Shopee, Lazada and Qoo10.

While it’s a lovely amber hue at first glance, the barbecued pork - delivered in a vacuum-sealed plastic pack - is oddly orange within, with a fibrous texture. It’s not the most tender bak kwa we’ve tried, but still reasonably succulent with a sweet, smoke-kissed flavour. Not bad, and we like that they offer 300g packs of bak kwa for those who are not looking to spend a lot in these austere times. However, the sliced pork bak kwa is now sold out; a shop staff informed us that there will be no restocking, and only minced pork bak kwa in the original or chilli flavour is available now.

Available via Shopee, Lazada, Qoo10 or www.goldengourmet.com.sg.

Sliced Bak Kwa, $24 for 500g; $48 for 1kg (price increase unconfirmed at time of writing)

Backstory: This 40-year-old brand is mainly a bak kwa and mushroom wholesaler. It specialises in vacuum-sealed slices of charcoal-grilled bak kwa, including unusual flavours like mushroom and seaweed. Kim Guan Guan’s HQ is in an industrial estate at far-flung Tagore Lane in Upper Thomson, where its goodies are available via pre-order only. However, there’s a more conveniently located pop-up booth outside Chinatown Point till February 3, where you can just walk in and buy what you want. 

There’s something about vacuum-packed bak kwa that gives it an unattractive compressed shape and dullness. Moreover, the globs of yellow fat on these otherwise reasonably shiny slices are off-putting. The thick, hefty meat is slightly unyielding if you have weak molars. That said, it tastes better than it looks. Fairly flavourful, like an inferior jerky version of a zi char stall’s pai gu wang (pork rib dish).

Three outlets including a pop-up booth outside Chinatown Point (booth 6), 133 New Bridge Rd, S059413. Tel: 9270-5506. www.facebook.com/kimguanguanbakkwa.

Sliced Pork Bak Kwa, $26 for 500g

Backstory: Founded in 1984, this bak kwa brand has a very similar name to another bak kwa specialist on this list - Kim Peng Hiang (they both offer the uncommon pineapple bak kwa). According to its website, New Peng Hiang also has seven franchised outlets in Indonesia and a factory outlet in Singapore, though it also stocks its bak kwa at major supermarkets in Singapore like Sheng Siong, Prime and selected NTUC FairPrice outlets. It also has e-retail shops on Redmart, Shopee and Qoo10.

The reddish-brown pork slices look juicy and appealing, wrapped in paper in a resealable plastic pouch. Our delivery was placed in a reusable tote too. The bak kwa here has an  old-school, smoky flavour with umami notes of soy sauce and caramelised sugar (most bak kwa we’ve tried mostly just taste flatly sweet). The pork could be more tender, but this is still good, old-fashioned bak kwa.

Available via Sheng Siong, Prime, iEcon Minimart, Goodluck, Ang Mo and selected NTUC FairPrice supermarkets, and Shopee, Redmart and Qoo10. www.newpenghiang.com.

Traditional Pork Slice, $26 for 500g; $52 for 1kg (price increase from Jan 8 to $55/kg)

Backstory: This over 30-year-old biz prides itself on hand — not machine — made bak kwa with bite, using fresh grain-fed Australian free-range pork that's chilled, not frozen. No surprise then, that this brand, which wholesales its products, once counted atas, clean-eating gourmet supermarket SuperNature (Fann Wong shops there) among its clients.

In terms of flavour, this one stood out for its naturally sweet-tasting, fresh pork. We also like the fact that we could detect the nuances of the superior meat because it isn’t inundated in an aggressively sweet or briny marinade, just subtly seasoned with fish sauce and sugar. What most of us weren’t hot about though, was the fact that the slices are too thick and a tad tough (probably ’cos the meat is less processed than most). That’s the price to pay if you want what’s meant to be a sinful snack to be more natural and wholesome, we suppose.

257 South Bridge Rd, S058806. Tel: 6225-5257. Open daily 9.30am to 8.30pm. www.kimjooguan.com.

Sliced Pork Bak Kwa, $23 for 500g

Backstory: The story behind Xishi Bak Kwa is a pretty interesting one. It was founded in 1985 by a Mr Koh, who started his F&B career as a young man learning how to make Hong Kong dim sum at a restaurant beside a bak kwa shop. When the bak kwa seller faced manpower shortage during the festive season, Mr Koh was roped in to help out, and ended up working for the shop and mastering its bak kwa recipes. He later set up his own wholesale biz called Xi Shi Bak Kwa (it was also known as Cecilia Minced Pork) selling bak kwa that are grilled in a charcoal smokehouse.

We don’t have a great first impression of Xi Shi’s bak kwa, which is so greasy, it drips oil onto our table when we pull a slice out of the ziplock package. But the tastiness of the barbecued pork becomes apparent once we’ve blotted some of the oil with a kitchen towel. The greasy meat - sliced more thickly than its competitors’ - is super succulent (the extra oil helps). It boasts a sweeter flavour profile with just a hint of smoke-kissed savouriness. Good as an accompaniment in other dishes (bak kwa brussel sprouts, anyone?) but very jelak after one slice.

Available via Shopee and Qoo10. www.facebook.com/xishibakkwa.

Sliced Pork, $33.60 for 600g; $56 for 1kg (price increase unconfirmed at time of writing)

Backstory: The name that’s on most Singaporeans’ lips when you mention bak kwa. This stalwart, which boasts about 50 outlets here and branches in cities like Tokyo and Hong Kong, was born in 1933. Think of it as the Starbucks of the bak kwa world. Its website states that its barbecued pork is “made with 100% natural ingredients, without added meat tenderiser, preservatives, artificial flavouring or colouring and MSG”.

The only bak kwa we typically like to buy from Bee Cheng Hiang is the yummy bacon-cut Gourmet or bacon-minced pork hybrid Gourmet Fusion ones. After biting into this classic sliced version, we’re reminded why. It’s juicy in spots but parched in others. It’s also roughly thick-cut and requires a fair bit of chomping to break down the meat. And though tasty and evenly charred, the marinade veers towards slightly too syrupy. It's a perfectly serviceable bak kwa, but we’d rather save our calories for BCH’s superior bacon version.

50 stores islandwide, including #B1-10A Paragon, Tel: 6732-3433. Open daily 10am to 9.30pm. www.beechenghiang.com.sg.

Sliced Bak Kwa, $29 for 500g; $58 for 1kg (price will increase to $60/kg on Jan 9, and $64/kg from Jan 12)

Backstory: New Eastern is also fondly known by its other name, Kim Tee, which is its founder Teo Kim Tee’s moniker. He started his bak kwa business at a shophouse in Serangoon Gardens in 1976. The brand has since expanded to its current five outlets, including one at Tangs Orchard. We got our bak kwa at the brand’s Serangoon Gardens flagship without much fuss on a weekday evening, ’cos there was no queue.

Among the 13 brands we sampled for this story, New Eastern’s bak kwa had the reddest hue of them all. The pork slices also appears strangely puffy and rubbery. “It looks like it’s going to be tough,” predicts our photographer gloomily. But plot twist! The bak kwa is surprisingly tender and juicy, like a jerky version of very decent char siew. Not bad at all. Don’t judge this bak kwa by its deceptively unattractive looks, we say.

Five outlets including 22 Maju Ave, S556695. Tel: 6283-2829/9138-6665. Open daily 10am-9pm. www.kimtee.com.sg. ​​​​​​​

#3 Traditional Sliced Square Pork, $30 for 500g; $60 for 1kg (price increase unconfirmed at time of writing)

Backstory: This super popular hawker stall at People’s Park Food Centre has been around for over 50 years. When we showed up on a Wednesday afternoon, we spied strapping young lads in the shop’s red polo tee uniform grilling large piles of bak kwa over charcoal. There was a snaking queue of people bulk-ordering bak kwa. Most of the customers went for the shop’s signature, the machine-made Traditional Square Minced Pork bak kwa, though we bought the handmade sliced version for the purposes of standardisation for this story. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We were told by the towkay neo that we did not have to wait for the sliced bak kwa as they happened to have a fresh batch ready, and we managed to skip the queue (it was over an hour’s wait otherwise). However, this prompted other customers to start clamouring for the sliced bak kwa in order to avoid waiting.

We were given a fresh, piping hot piece of sliced bak kwa to sample on the spot at the shop, and it was absolutely delicious. Though the bak kwa was a scary,  lurid red, the meat is yielding, juicy and not too sweet. But when we ate our tapow-ed bak kwa the next day, it was drier and slightly harder (which some in our tasting panel weren’t crazy about), so you should devour your stash ASAP. Unlike the pristine pieces offered by other bak kwa shops, the bak kwa here is also more organically-shaped; our packet contained mostly irregular shards that look like they were indeed made by hand. Quite delightful when eaten fresh, but this still trails far behind our collective #1 choice (see below).

Two branches including #01-1022 People's Park Cooked Food Centre, 32 New Market Rd, S050032. Tel: 9006-2026. Open daily 5am till stocks run out.

Signature Sliced Pork, $31 for 500g; $62 for 1kg (price increase unconfirmed at time of writing) 

Backstory: Opened in 1938, Lim Chee Guan is one of the oldest bak kwa brands in Singapore. This family-run biz has four outlets in Singapore: two in Chinatown, one in Jewel Changi Airport and another at Ion Orchard mall. We dropped by its New Bridge Road branch to buy some for this story, and its popularity was obvious. There were two other bak kwa shops, Fragrance and Bee Cheng Hiang, along the same stretch, but only Lim Chee Guan had a queue of about 10 people on a recent Wednesday afternoon. Their workers packed bak kwa at superhuman speed, though. So, happily, we got our pork within just 15 minutes. How’s that for efficiency?

The sultry maroon slices are aptly charred, with the right thickness: neither too stingily thin nor fat and unwieldy. The unctuous meat has some bite, yet gives way easily when bitten into. Our only bugbear is the slight inconsistency of the bak kwa we bought: while some slices are great, others taste ever so slightly of what seems like stale fat — despite the bak kwa being roasted on-site at their outlets. Still, this is one of our favourite go-to brands for bak kwa. It’s tasty enough (especially when the shop isn’t inundated with orders and the quality is more consistent) and accessible. Alas, while this ranked #2 on the list last year, it has now slipped to #3 as we have found a worthier contender (see below). 

Four outlets including 203 New Bridge Rd, S059429. Tel: 6933-7230. Open daily 9am-10pm. www.limcheeguan.com.sg.

Sliced Bak Kwa, $24 for 500g, $48 for 1kg (fixed price)

Backstory: Peng Guan is a relatively new but underrated bak kwa brand in the market with a young towkay. It’s started in 2014 by former administrative executive Zhang Ziyue, 33, whose family is also in the bak kwa-selling line. He modernised his business by selling his bak kwa (grilled in a central kitchen in Admiralty) via Peng Guan’s website. The brand offers bak kwa delivery service via their website ($5 for orders below 10kg, free delivery for orders above 10kg), and you can also get Peng Guan’s bak kwa from e-retailers like Qoo10 and Shopee, though online purchase is currently unavailable. The owner also runs a traditional brick-and-mortar hawker stall at Chinatown Complex Food Centre. There’s usually no insane queue at the shop during CNY. And what’s even better, its prices are cheaper than most of its bak kwa-selling counterparts. In fact, the last time we were there nearing CNY, there was no line at all — we got our stash in just a few minutes.

While sliced bak kwa typically has a chewier bite than the minced version due to leaner meat being used, Peng Guan’s pork is still tender and juicy even a few days after purchase. Each slice is not incredibly thick, but has a satisfying enough mouthfeel when we chomp on it. The bak kwa could be a little less sweet, but the fish sauce marinade and a subtle smokiness from being grilled over charcoal kinda counterbalances the sugar. Very yummy. Despite its competitive pricing, our bak kwa comes in a good quality gold gift box with a festive red paper bag. Way easier to open than the usual resealable plastic bags which gives us grease-stained fingers.

#02-36 Chinatown Complex Food Centre, 335 Smith St, S050335. Tel: 9684-8386. Open daily except Mon, 8am-4pm. Extended opening hours for CNY till Feb 1, daily 8am-8pm. Free delivery for orders above 10kg, $5 delivery fee for orders below 5kg from Feb 12. www.pengguan.com.sg.

Sliced Royal Pork, $24 for 500g; $48 for 1kg (fixed price)

Backstory: We’ve long heard about this legendary brand with the elusive charcoal-grilled pineapple bak kwa and its ludicrous queues. But we’ve never made it down to the shop near Kembangan MRT station for fear of the wait. Let's just say we were right to be apprehensive. Kim Peng Hiang is a family-run biz that started in the 1930s, and claims to be the first to sell pineapple bak kwa in Singapore. Apparently, the towkay just really likes pineapples and bak kwa, so he decided to combine the two together. It makes sense since pork and pineapple is a classic pairing — think sweet-and-sour pork and Hawaiian pizza. 

The brand used to boast a few branches, including one at Chinatown, but now only has a main shop in the east. We rocked up close to 11am on a weekday expecting an hour-long queue at worst. Guess how long we waited? A soul-crushing three hours. And thirty minutes. Crucial tip: bring cash — the shop doesn't accept credit cards or Nets (we learned this the painful way and could only buy a modest amount).

When we finally unsheathe our precious loot after our torturous 3.5-hour wait, we're greeted with a frankly unremarkable sight: irregular chunks of meat that are a little too pale, yet somehow also too red. A tentative bite — the bak kwa is akin to that of soft pieces of pork stripped from the animal’s thigh after being slow-cooked. Its mouthfeel is satisfyingly meaty and more 'natural' than that of many uniformly flat bak kwa slices. As we munch on, savoury juices saturate our taste buds in an umami-sweet-salty orgy of its “top secret” marinade, perfumed with a deep smokiness from the charcoal. Super delicious and worthy of its imperious royal moniker — plus the unanimous #1 ranking in our taste test. 

If you're curious to know: its famous Pineapple Bak Kwa brethren (from $26 for 500g) is equally fab. It has bits of fresh pineapple embedded within a minced pork sheet, which adds an irresistible tang and succulent crunch to the rich meat. We love both the bak kwa here, but can’t say we’re willing to endure a 3.5-hour wait again just to get some, though. But take note that both offerings taste best fresh — our leftover meat dried out quite a bit after several days. According to the towkay's daughter, the best time to avoid the queue here is oddly enough, “on weekend evenings”. If you do decide to brave the crowd at Kim Peng Hiang — can help us to tapow some, please?

465 Changi Rd, S419886. Tel: 6742-6853/ 8368-1707. Open daily 9am-6pm. www.facebook.com/Kim-Peng-Hiang-149152102649.

FOOD PHOTOS: KELVIN CHIA
FOOD STYLING: YIP JIEYING

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