Malaysians don’t drink teas the way westerners or Chinese and Japanese do. The Chinese and Japanese like their tea unsweetened and for them, tea drinking is an art form which is to be savored in the company of friends and family. In the West, especially in England, no morning is complete without breakfast tea whether with milk and sugar or with a twist of lemon. Malaysians like their tea sweet and pulled in the form of teh tarik.
Ask any Malaysian what is a truly typical dish they will miss when overseas and the mind will inevitably drift towards nasi lemak and teh tarik. Teh tarik or literally “pulled tea”, is a drink commonly found at Malay or Indian restaurants and hawkers or locally known as “mamak stalls”. I was thinking about this today, because I saw one of the people in my office having a delicious smelling packet of nasi lemak; and no nasi lemak is complete without the ubiquitous teh tarik kurang manis (pulled tea with less sugar).
I always introduce teh tarik as the cappucino of Malaysia. This is because when the tea is poured from one container to another, the air that is introduced forms a froth at the top of the glass. Properly done, you will get a nice head rather like that of cappuccino.
The tea used for teh tarik is usually black tea leaves steeped in hot water to release the flavour and then mixed with condensed milk, evaporated milk and sugar. You can understand there is a need to remind the stall owners to cut back on the sugar!! The teas usually come from any tea company but it is commonly known that it is not of the highest grade. Once the tea is made, it is then poured from one container to another in a long stream. I believe the idea is to cool it to make it easier to drink. In the process, it adds froth and mixes up the drink better, and provides entertainment value besides. Picture courtesy of Gandhu & Sarah.
When we are at home, my dad makes a variation of teh tarik using his favourite earl’s grey tea or breakfast tea. It never tastes as good as the ones made outside of course, because we don’t add as much sugar into the drink nor is it as thick. Besides, earl’s grey tea and breakfast tea has its own flavour and scent too.
I’m suddenly longing for a nice glass of teh tarik with roti canai to go with it. Maybe I’ll pop by for a mamak dinner tonight
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