This is dish of Chinese origin normally associated with Singapore and Malaysia that I've been seeing more and more of in Bangkok. In the best tradition of investigative food journalism, I selflessly decided to see what all the fuss was about and stopped by a local place cleverly named Ba Kut Teh.
The signature dish, bak kut teh, is a thickish stew served in an earthenware bowl:
The fragrant broth contained the requisite pork ribs and joints as well as a couple kinds of mushroom and some cabbage. The stew was served with two sauces, soy sauce and a spicy-sour chili sauce, and a bowl of plain rice. It was good, but didn't quite have the deep flavor of something that had been simmering for hours. Judging by the current popularity of this dish, I'm sure there's got to be better bak kut teh out there than this, and I'll be keeping my eyes open from now on.
As sides we ordered a dish of khanom jeep, steamed "dumplings" of ground pork and crab:
and an odd but oddly delicious deep-fried sausagelike "roll" of meat and veggies:
also very nice. All in all a good eat, and a nice break from the usual Thai suspects.