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Yuenyeung

Yuenyeung

鴛鴦
Brewed and pouredDrinksBreakfastLunchAfternoon teaDinnerHot or coldWeeknightWeekendEasyhands-on 5 min · start to finish 15 min

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

Ingredientsserves 1

雜貨舖Ceylon black tea· brewed to about 170 ml of strong tea, before milk1½ tbsp (10 g)
雜貨舖Ground coffee· dark-roast ground, brewed to about 70 ml of strong coffee; or a teaspoon of instant1 tbsp (8 g)
雜貨舖Evaporated milk45 ml
雜貨舖Sugar· or to taste2 tsp

Equipment

  • A cloth tea sock or a fine sieve, for both the tea and the coffee

Method

  1. At the drinks bar both pots are hot, the tea base and the coffee, and the master pours by eye. A good yuenyeung is judged on whether the coffee shows through the tea without taking it over.
  2. The tea: brew a pot of strong tea as on the Hong Kong milk tea page, before any milk goes in. Both parts must be strong, because they dilute each other.
  3. The coffee (café coffee has no page of its own yet, so it lives here): the café's coffee is a cheap dark-roast blend, one master's recipe being one part coarse-ground Colombian to three parts fine-ground Brazilian; the grounds go in the cloth bag, just-boiled water is poured through, the coffee is pulled from a height three or four times and brought back to heat. At home, brew a strong dark-roast filter or plunger coffee, or make a teaspoon of instant up to 70 ml; the café cup was never espresso and does not try to be.
  4. Evaporated milk in the cup first.
  5. Pour in the coffee, then the tea, to nine-tenths; stir once. Three parts coffee to seven of tea is the usual café rule, some shops go half and half, and the older rule of thumb is tea, coffee and milk at 50:25:25.
  6. Sugar to taste. Iced: make both stronger, cool, and pour over a glass of ice. 鴛鴦走: condensed milk in place of the evaporated milk and sugar.
  7. The laziest home method, and honestly what many Hong Kong homes do: make a cup of milk tea and stir a little strong coffee or instant coffee into it.

Take care

  • Contains milk. Tea and coffee together are two sources of caffeine, and the cup is stronger than either alone.

The story

Yuenyeung is named for the mandarin duck pair that never separates, and it is the drink Hong Kong invented for people who could not choose. 蘭芳園 says it poured the first one; whoever did, it is the most Hong Kong item on the drinks board, a drink no other city serves under that name, and the one émigrés order to test a new café.

Same counter

Red bean iceOvaltine and Horlicks, the café wayHong Kong milk tea

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.