Hong Kong Milk Tea

no silk stockings in here… 

7 million people love milk tea… 7 million people in Hong Kong that is….

In colourful Cantonese, “silk stocking milk tea” or “Lai Cha” is a popular drink in ye ‘ole HK. It’s black tea sweetened with evaporated milk…. yes evaporated milk! Usually a breakfast power up, its often accompanied with an egg tart (another Hong Kong speciality) or another sweet bun of some kind. The tea is strained through a nylon net which can sometimes look like a single (but not so sexy!) stocking. In yet another example of the cultural minefield that is Hong Kong, some foreigners really do think/expect/worry it’s still strained through old granny stockings… yuuck!

A supposedly fine milk tea is marked by its smoothness, a mix of tea and evaporated milk so that it’s not too sweet OR too bitter…. It’s the only time I will knowingly drink Lipton tea and like it.

Famous HK-style milk tea restaurants:

‧ Cheung Lee Restaurant – No. 120, G/F, Electric Road, North Point.

‧Kam Fung Restaurant – No 41, Spring Garden Lane, Wan Chai.

‧Cheung Fat Restaurant – No. 28D, Cheung Fat Street, Cheung Sa Wan.

-Cheung Heung Yuen Restaurant – No. 107, Belcher’s Street, Kennedy Town, Sai Wan

According to wikihow, this is how to make a good cuppa:

1. Boil some water for the black tea leaves.
2. Put the tea in a silk bag in the water once it is boiling.
3. Keep at a low boil for 30 minutes or longer.
4. The longer it boils the richer/smoother the taste.
5. Pour the hot tea in ceramic cup and add cold sweetened condensed milk.
6. Sugar is optional.

Tips

• The longer it boils the richer/smoother the taste.
• You can use hot milk, but cold milk cools it down. If you want to cool it down more, put it in the refrigerator.
• The recipe to Chinese milk tea varies. Many famous tea houses and restaurants keep their milk tea recipe a trade secret.

thanks to Apple Daily for this one