Hong Kong Style Milk Tea Recipe
I recently been craving a lot of childhood goodies, and one of the things I really like is Nai Cha which literally translates to “milk tea“. It’s also known as “Pantyhose Milk Tea – 絲襪奶茶” as historically, they used pantyhose as a filter to make this tea smooth. I really enjoy the Hong Kong style Nai Cha which is quite dark and strong, so I’ve been playing around with ways to make my own version at home.
Ingredients:
4 cups of boiling water
6 Black Tea Bags
2-3 Tablespoons of Condensed Milk
First, in a pot, I add about 4 cups of water and bring it to a boil with the tea bags (with the bags in the water and the string sitting on the handle). I like to use Lipton Yellow Label Tea, but you can use whatever black tea you like.
Once the water boils with the tea bags, the water starts getting quite dark, and since I really like my Nai Cha strong, I reduce the heat a leave it at a simmer for awhile. I’ve been boiling it slowly for an hour.
Then, I let it cool a bit, put some condensed milk in the bottom of my cup and pour the tea on top.
Once I do that, the best part is next – stir and enjoy! These drinks are normally served with light meals or breakfast! But, I like this Nai Cha wherever and whenever!
Another alternative to this is the more traditional cafe style where you can replace the Condensed Milk with Evaporated Milk and sugar. Be sure to add the sugar before the evaporated milk if you choose to go that route! Both milks are wonderful in milk tea! If you’re craving iced milk tea, make the nai cha with either sugar and evaporated milk or condensed milk and allow it to cool for a bit. Then, in a tall glass, fill it with ice and pour the nai cha over the ice – stir and enjoy!