Mutton marrow bones simmered in a vivid red, sweet-spicy gravy tinted with food colouring and tomato, the marrow sucked out of the bones. A Singapore-Malay-Muslim hawker legend of the North Bridge Road and Kampung Glam area.
Sup tulang merah, red bone soup, is a Singapore Malay-Muslim hawker legend of the North Bridge Road and Kampung Glam area. Mutton or goat marrow bones are simmered in a vivid red, sweet-spicy gravy tinted with food colouring and tomato, and the marrow is sucked out of the bones. The red colour and the intense sweet-spicy gravy are a Singapore signature not found in standard Malaysian sup tulang, and the dish is eaten with bread to mop the gravy and is a late-night Malay-Muslim hawker cult.
Vivid red, intensely sweet, spicy and tomatoey gravy clinging to marrow bones, the marrow sucked out rich and fatty, mopped up with bread. Eaten messy and hot, it is intense, sweet-savoury and a one-of-a-kind Singapore cult dish.
The bones are simmered for hours with a rempah of the four-sekawan spice blend (cinnamon, clove, star anise, cardamom), tomato, chilli and ginger until the marrow softens. The defining touch is the red food colouring (and tomato), which gives the gravy its vivid hue, and the sweet-spicy balance from palm sugar and chilli. The marrow is eaten by sucking it out of the bones; the gravy is mopped with bread.
Variations
A less-coloured version skips the food colouring. Some add mutton pieces alongside the bones.
On the Palate
Where Sup Tulang Merah sits in the Singaporean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 18 min
In a pot, fry 2 chopped onions, 4 cloves garlic and 2cm ginger in 3 tbsp oil 5 minutes.
- 26 min
Add 1 tbsp each of cinnamon, clove and star anise powders, 2 tbsp chilli paste and 4 tomatoes quartered; fry 4 minutes.
- 330 min
Add 1.2kg mutton marrow bones, 1.5 litres water, 2 tbsp palm sugar, salt and a few drops of red food colouring; simmer covered 90 minutes.
Watch outSimmer the bones long and low until the marrow softens enough to suck out — that melting marrow is the point, so don't cut the cooking time short.
- 412 min
Uncover and simmer 20 minutes more until the gravy is thick and clings.
Watch outReduce uncovered at the end until the gravy thickens and clings — too thin and it won't coat the bones or mop up with bread.
- 54 min
Taste for sweet-spicy balance.
- 64 min
Serve hot with bread for mopping, eating the marrow from the bones.
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