In this paper, a new algebra method, i.e., generalized elliptic equation rational expansion method is devised to uniformly construct a series of exact solutions for nonlinear partial differential equations. Compared with most existing Tanh methods, the proposed method not only recover some known solutions, but also find some new and general solutions. The efficiency of the method can be demonstrated on the (2 + 1)-dimensional Broer-Kaup-Kupershmidt system. As a result, we obtain many new types of solutions include rational formal solitary wave solutions, rational formal triangular periodic wave solutions, rational formal Jacobi and Weierstrass double period solutions and rational wave solutions. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier Inc.