By YS Chan
The direct translation of “teh tarik” to English is “pulled tea”. The tea is made by first pouring hot water into a cloth strainer with tea dust in it and over a metal mug.
Sweetened condensed milk is then added and white refined sugar for extra sweet. While pouring into a glass, the mug is moved higher up to allow a longer time for the stream of tea to reach the glass.
For making larger quantities, two big mugs are used and it can be quite a spectacle when performed by those showing off their skills.
The motion of moving the mugs away from each other and pouring from a distance gives the impression that the tea was pulled to make it long, hence the name “pulled tea”.
As a result, the hot tea gets cooler but more importantly, the trapped air turned the tea frothy and delicious, similar to carbonated soda, which will be flat, without gas bubbles.
I enjoy all kinds of food and drinks but only if they are the best and would not touch those not up to my standard.
For teh tarik, I would not drink those readymade kept in a jug, just as I avoid precooked food, especially those prepared hours ago and abstain from food, fruits and drinks supplied by caterers.
My food must be clean, freshly cooked and served hot. As such, I would finish my meal before ordering a hot drink and restaurant workers would keep bothering me by asking about my drink.
If it were tea I fancied, I would order “teh-C tarik, kurang manis, panas panas”. “Teh-C” is the name used in Chinese coffee shops for tea with evaporated milk, which is without any sugar.
I enjoy a little sweetness and “kurang manis” means less sweet, but usually it was still too sweet, but not as bad as normal “teh tarik”, which is overly sweet and undrinkable.
“Panas” means hot and I repeat the word to emphasise it must be hot, using very hot water to make the tea. Many people mistakenly believe that pulled tea was just for cooling it down.
Ordering teh-C means that it has to be freshly made and the bonus comes when new tea dust is used, which gives a sharper taste. But many outlets use poor quality tea dust, which gives an unpleasant type of sour taste.
While many Malaysians drink teh tarik on a regular basis and take their own sweet time to finish a glass, I drink mine as hot as possible and finish it within a minute.
The best tea I had was shaken, not stirred, and James Bond would have agreed with me, because that’s how he liked his Martinis.
I discovered “shaken tea” at a stall inside the Integrated Commercial Complex at Pudu, where most of the tenants moved from the old wet market in Imbi to make way for the new Bandar Tun Razak.
Many visitors throng there to patronise the Ah Weng Koh Hainan tea but further in is King Swee Café stall, and one would be impressed with the teamaker preparing the hot drinks with zest.
My wife always ordered the teh-C kosong, meaning hot tea with evaporated milk, without sugar.
After boiling water is poured into a cloth strainer with quality tea dust, the contents are then poured into a small receptacle, which is then covered, shaken and poured into a thick porcelain cup commonly used in traditional Chinese coffee shops.
The result is a frothy tea that is still very hot, and delicious for those who knows how to savour good tea. My wife is now in Australia for a long holiday and this drink will be right on top of the things she misses away from home.
Teh goncang or shaken tea will only be more popular than teh tarik if more Malaysians care for good foods and drinks.
We are fond of claiming that our food is delicious without taking into account that nearly all are unhealthy, especially when extra doses of oil, salt, sugar, spice, monosodium glutamate, preservative, artificial colouring and flavours are added, not to mention meats and fish are left unrefrigerated and cut fruits, sliced chilies and chopped garlic left to oxidise.
Likewise, our teh tarik is actually no big deal but foreigners love our Malaysian coffee, both the traditional type and white coffee, and they cart home many.
Hong Kong people love their milk tea. Those who have tried our Hainan tea, which is a mixture of coffee, tea, cocoa, condensed and evaporated milk, give their thumbs up.
If teh goncang is introduced there, it would be embraced by the health-conscious. As such, I recommend this drink for all.
On the other hand, the worst tea is found in hotels, served at buffets. The tea is kept in a large container with tea bags in there for hours.
Only very hot water can extract the full flavour of the tea and if a tea bag is used, it should not steep in a cup for more than three minutes.
YS Chan is an FMT reader.
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