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The Streets Hong Kong
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series • cooking
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Walk into a cha chaan teng and you’ll notice diners sipping on many different kinds of specialty drinks, like 7-up with salted lemon, cream soda milk or yuenyeung, a coffee-tea hybrid invented in Hong Kong.
Hot Coca-Cola with lemon and ginger
A lot of people in Hong Kong swear by this drink as a remedy for colds. Many believe that drinking something hot, crawling under thick blankets, and sweating out all the toxins is helpful, says , founder of .
Curious about why a local diner would sell a cold remedy? Some believe that the drink was birthed in a cha chaan teng before gradually spreading among the community. Serving a hot version of a well-loved soda also captures another demographic. “A lot of people, especially women, avoid drinking too many cold drinks, because the belief is that it's not good for your body, especially for women, it’s not good for our uterus,” explains Rachel Leung, a Melburnian who grew up in Hong Kong.
To make this drink, “you can’t use Diet Coke or Coke Zero because they use non-sugar sweeteners, and when you boil it, it tastes bitter,” Cecilia explains. “You also need to use [mature] ginger, that would help you fight your cold.”
You may be wondering also, why Coke? No one really knows. But if this drink was indeed invented by a cha chaan teng, the answer may lie in the longstanding partnership that Coca-Cola has had with these establishments. The company partners with cha chaan tengs to create drinks featuring their soda, says Cecilia, and provides them with logo-emblazoned tables, cups, menus and even plastic table dividers during the pandemic.
A familiar brand at a Hong Kong cha chaan teng. Credit: HKTB / factoryxii.today
7-up and salted lemon
Named ‘salted lemon 7’ in Cantonese, this cold beverage is never made with any other lemonade, says Cecilia. The salted lemons used are either purchased or fermented in-house. The bitter, salty and sour lemons are believed to soothe a sore throat and help dispel phlegm.
Yuenyeung
Made by combining black coffee and milk tea into a drink you can have either chilled or hot, “this drink is quintessential Hong Kong,” Cecilia remarks. As you sip on it, you get the taste and creamy mouthfeel of Hong Kong milk tea, chased by the aromatic notes of coffee.
Its name (also seen as yuanyang) is either derived from yin and yang or the , which boasts a harmoniously colourful plumage. Either way, it points to yuenyeung’s harmonious flavours. Yuenyeung is also a more balanced beverage according to Chinese medicine beliefs, as the ‘’ properties of coffee are offset by milk tea, which is relatively more ‘cooling’, says Cecilia.
Coffee-tea drink yuenyeung. Source: iStockphoto / Joseph Duffy / Getty Images / iStockphoto
Ribena with lemon
Hong Kong wasn’t always the prosperous city it is today, and Ribena used to be considered a healthier option that was also affordable, explains Cecilia. Given that juice is more accessible these days, most people opt for this over Ribena, says Rachel. You wouldn’t find ‘grape juice with lemon’ in cha chaan tengs though, as Ribena is another company that has a working relationship with these establishments.
Red bean with evaporated milk
You can find this with regular ice cubes or with , says Cecilia. Red beans boiled with sugar are added to the bottom of a glass and topped with evaporated milk. Some places may add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Cream soda with milk
The staff places a glass of ice, a green-coloured can of Schweppes Cream Soda, and a bottle of milk in front of you. It’s up to you to prepare the drink, and it’s crucial to do it correctly so the milk doesn’t curdle. Cecilia suggests pouring both components in the glass at the same time, while Rachel likes to pour the milk in first, before adding the amber-coloured cream soda in a slow stream. This is a drink that was more popular in the 50s or 60s.
Raw egg in hot water
“A lot of people are very nostalgic about this drink,” says Cecilia. “Back when Hong Kong was less prosperous, this would have been considered a healthy drink.” An egg is cracked into 100°C water and stirred. Some people break up the yolk and some leave it whole. Once the white is no longer transparent, the drink is ready. It can be drunk with sugar or without.
It seems to be more commonly served in Macau compared to Hong Kong. “But even if a cafe doesn’t have it on their menu, you can still ask,” Rachel says. “They might still be able to do it for you.”
Tips for ordering these specialty drinks:
- It’s not common to request ‘added sugar’ when ordering. Use the sugar packets provided at each table.
- To replace evaporated milk with condensed milk for the milky drinks, add the word “Zao” [走] after the drink name. “Zao” means ‘run’, or in this case, ‘without’. Evaporated milk will automatically be replaced with condensed milk.
- To order a drink without ice, say “Zao Beng”.
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