Hong Kong milk tea

Name: Hong Kong milk tea
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Cantonese
Ingredients: Ceylon black tea 3 tbsp (20–25 g); Evaporated milk 90 ml; Sugar 4 tsp; Condensed milk 2 tbsp

港式奶茶

Brewed and pouredDrinksBreakfastLunchAfternoon teaDinnerHot or coldWeeknightWeekendMediumhands-on 15 min · start to finish 15 min

“Get the tea smooth and it is a real café.”

Ingredientsserves 2

雜貨舖Ceylon black tea· the café blends coarse, medium and fine Ceylon leaf; at home one tin of strong Ceylon3 tbsp (20–25 g)

雜貨舖Evaporated milk· 30–45 ml a cup, seven parts tea to three of milk90 ml

雜貨舖Sugar· 2 tsp a cup, or to taste4 tsp

雜貨舖Condensed milk· for 茶走 only, in place of the evaporated milk and sugar2 tbsp

Equipment

A cloth tea sock, or a fine sieve lined with a square of muslin
Two small pots, for the pull

Method

How the drinks bar does it: the café blends coarse, medium and fine Ceylon leaf, the coarse for colour, the fine for aroma and the sweet aftertaste; a tall pot is brewed at opening and sits in a water bath all day, bitter-strong so the evaporated milk can stand up to it.
One, the brew: bring 500 ml of water to the boil in a small pot and turn off the heat. Put the leaf in the cloth sock, lower it in, and simmer on the lowest flame for one minute; turn off.
Two, the steep: lid on, six minutes.
Three, the pull: lift the sock and pour the tea back through it into the second pot from a height, four to six times. Speed and force are what make it smooth, and the pull also drops the temperature; a café does this dozens of times a day, the sock stains tea-brown, and that is why the drink is called silk-stocking tea.
Four, back to heat: return the tea to the pot and bring it almost to the boil.
Milk first: fill the cup about a third with evaporated milk, then pour the hot tea to nine-tenths, seven parts tea to three of milk; the milk does not scald and mixes evenly. Sugar at the table, to taste.
Iced: brew it stronger and sweeter, cool, and pour over a glass of ice. 茶走: leave out the evaporated milk and sugar and use condensed milk for both.
No sock at home: brew and steep the loose leaf straight in the pot and strain through a fine sieve; in place of the pull, stir the tea six to eight turns clockwise with a spoon (the master's home version), or pour between two pots over the sink. Use a strong loose Ceylon; tea bags are too fine and turn bitter with the long steep.

Take care

Contains milk (evaporated and condensed milk). A café cup is far stronger than an English one and carries more caffeine. The pull sends boiling tea through the air; do it over the sink and mind the scald.

The story

Silk-stocking milk tea is Hong Kong's drink: Ceylon leaf brewed hard in a cotton sock, pulled between two pots until it is smooth, and softened with tinned evaporated milk because the 1950s ice rooms had no fresh milk. 蘭芳園 in Central, open since 1952, claims both the sock and the name. For a Hong Kong family in Australia it is the one drink no café makes properly, which is why the tin and the sock are in the first suitcase.

Same counter

Red bean ice

Ovaltine and Horlicks, the café way

Yuenyeung

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.