Hong Kong Milk Tea

The addictive taste of quintessential HK

My first time arriving into Hong Kong circa 2018 I was armed with a to-do list. I was headed to mainland China but isolated 5 nights in Hong Kong to explore and see the city.

If you’ve been around here for a while I’ve talked before about my first trip to Asia in 2018 being completely mind-blown by the food, culture and many other aspects of Hong Kong and mainland China that I wasn’t aware of.

Back to my first 2018 HK trip. In those five nights I squeezed in 26 restaurants and to this day I’m not sure how 😆

My first stop (on a friends recommendation) was to try a legit Hong Kong style breakfast so I went to the Capital Cafe in Wan Chai which is a HK cafe (Cha Chaan Teng) institution.

Upon my friends recommendation I ordered for my first ever HK breakfast: scrambled eggs with milkbread toast, macaroni and ham in chicken soup and hot HK milk tea.

Cha Chaan Teng are known for speedy, no frills service. It’s not uncommon to place your order and within 2-3 mins it’s on your table ready to eat. These cafes thrive on volume. It’s a get-in, get-out type of affair especially during peak meal times. I find the culture comedically charming and the food soulfully delicious.

Sixty seconds after placing my order, the HK milk tea hit the table and I took a big swig. I was greeted by a strong black tea that was very tannic, gripping the sides of my tongue, and then subsiding from the creamy lactose balancing out the tea.

I was honestly surprised on the first taste by the juxtaposition of tannic-to-creamy and then have become addicted ever since. Growing up in the UK tea was a major part of everyday life and I love a good Irish breakfast or other tea blend that’s on the malty-strong side.

This HK Milk Tea was another ball game though. As soon as my scrambled eggs and toast arrived (about 60 seconds later) it all made sense. The luscious and creamy eggs were the perfect counterpoint to the strong-tannic milk tea that acted as beautiful and tasty palate cleanser between every bite.

Classic Breakfast set at Capital Cafe

I had almost forgotten about my Capital Cafe introduction to HK Milk Tea but remembered when my parents came to visit late last year. I went back recently and the milk tea is as delicious as ever.

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There is a lot of history behind HK Milk Tea. It’s said to have originally been made by passing the tea through silk stalkings; some people swear by certain water temperatures and brewing times; the tea itself is a blend that shop owners will refuse to give away the secret.

My mom went home determined to be able to make HK milk tea back at home in the States, so we went back and forth as she was sending me her findings and we got it tweaked to where she is happy with the results.

To make this at home we’ll make this as simple as possible.

You need to brew a strong tea. Ceylon seems to be mentioned in all the conversations I’ve delved into. Lipton tea is also a popular tea brand out here

Van Cheong has a good Ceylon tea that is labelled “Hong Kong Style” you can find on Amazon. Lipton is everywhere.

To finish your HK milk tea you’ll need evaporated milk… You can use fresh whole milk but here in HK they’re using evaporated milk and it has a distinct (and wonderful flavor). Black & White dairy being a big brand used (hence the logo’d B&W mugs at Capital Cafe)

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Recipe

Take 21g Ceylon tea + 7g Lipton Black and place in a sock strainer; lower into 1.25L of boiling water and simmer for 20 mins. (Yes, 20… you want a really strong tea)

Remove the sock strainer from the tea water and discard the tea leaves.

To finish, serve up your tea in a 3:1 ratio of tea to evaporated milk.

You can also tailor the recipe to your own tastes.

When you order milk tea at Cha Chaan Teng most will ask “more/less milk, sugar/no sugar”. I prefer standard milk ratio and no sugar. If you want sugar try adding a dash of sweetened condensed milk or white granulated sugar.

Make this iconic Hong Kong beverage now wherever you may be domiciled and enjoy!