tehCpeng - A guide to the real thing.
by ember: a tehCpeng.net community service.
/’tεh si pεη/ (IPA) n.
- A delicious concoction of red tea, Gula Melaka and evaporated milk.
- A popular drink with origins from Kuching, Sarawak.
- This blogger’s all-time favourite drink.
- A drink that deserves it’s own page. =)
If you’re a fellow Kuchingnite, you’d already have a rough idea what teh-C peng is. Since its more of a Kuching-thing, I’m betting that there are quite a few out there who doesn’t quite yet know about this hidden treasure of Kuching.
The Menu
So yeap, this is a page all about teh-C peng, that drink my blog is named after. And due to its lengthy nature, I’ve divided the guide into a few parts to make your life easier:
- Word-by-word definition of the name
- The various types of teh-C peng
- teh-C peng DIY
- How to drink your teh-C peng (duh.)
- Best of the best teh-C peng in Kuching.
The name, in three parts.
So lets start off with getting down and dirty with the name - ‘teh-C peng’ by dissecting its three-part name. teh literally means tea in Malay.
The tea used in teh-C peng’s are usually of a certain variant of red tea.
There is no official definition for the ‘C’ in the middle but according to popular conception its lingo for ‘evaporated milk’. It is accepted in almost every kopitiam in Malaysia, that when you add the suffix ‘C’ to an order of a drink, you’re implying that you want evaporated milk to be added, or the milked variant of that drink. Milk-ed variants of drinks are very common in Malaysia, not limited to kopi-’C', cincau-’C’ and of course, teh-’C’.
According to the Singlish Dictionary’s definition of ‘kopi-C’, the ‘C’ is known to stand for a certain Carnation brand of evaporated milk. Ask those of the older generations and they may be familiar with it, for I’ve never heard of a particular Carnation brand of evaporated milk. But it seems that’s how the ‘C’ in teh-C peng originates.
Okay, now lets move on to peng. Which is ‘ice’ in Hokkien. This is another commonly used suffix when ordering drinks in Malaysian kopitiams whenever you want your drink to be iced. It is optional though, for when you omit the -peng, the waiter would assume you want your drink steaming hot.
So there you have it, a seemingly complex but commonly used formula for ordering drinks here in Malaysia. If you’ve properly grasped how I defined the three-part name, you’ll instantly make out that teh-C peng means, simply, in English - iced milk tea. =)
Specially in three layers.
Teh-C peng ’special’ at Auntie’s Corner, Bormill Comm. Centre.→
If you’d take an order for teh-C peng anywhere in Malaysia, you’ll probably get a light-brown coloured glass of iced milk tea. Obviously. But when you’re here in Kuching, teh-C peng comes in three layers, some even five.
It’s three layers are often made up of (top-to-bottom) tea, evaporated milk and a certain Gula Melaka syrup. Simple physics would explain how the different densities of the three main ingredients float on top of each other.
It’s three layers are often made up of (top-to-bottom) tea, evaporated milk and a certain Gula Melaka syrup.
← 4 layer teh-C peng at Saberkas with an extra greenish layer of wheatgrass syrup.
In most kopitiams in Kuching, ordering for ‘teh-C peng’ gives you the three layer version. But there are places in Kuching where ordering ‘teh-C peng’ serves you the normal iced milk tea. In such cases, you’ll have to emphasise that you want the ‘three-layer’ teh-C peng or by ordering teh-C peng ’special’.
When ordering, you’ll have to emphasise that you want the ‘three-layer’ teh-C peng or by ordering teh-C peng ’special’.
← A normal teh-C peng at some kopitiam at 4 1/2 mile.
To be safe though, be sure to include the ’special’ in your orders whenever you want that three-layer teh-C peng in Kuching.
Make yourself a cup!
By no means a complete guide but a rough idea at how you could make your own teh-C peng. Check out how I did it (and failed miserably, but you’ll get the idea) in this post.
How to drink it?
Do I have to teach you how to drink tea? =P
Seriously though, to be consumed, you have to, obviously, stir up all its three layers evenly until it forms a smooth light-brown (sometimes almost orange) colour. And no, you don’t get a spoon to do the stirring, its done with your straw.
When you’re satisfied with your stirring, simply drink it like how you’d sip on your Starbucks ice blended frappuccino. =)
Where in Kuching should I try it?
It is widely acknowledged that the three-layer teh-C peng originated under these very roofs [of the Fresh Food Court] before gaining popularity all over Kuching.
Aha, that’s a good question. =D
» Fresh Food Court, 7th mile bazaar
The best place in Kuching to savour teh-C peng is none other than the Fresh Food Court at the 7th mile bazaar. I’m not sure as to its authenticity but it is widely acknowledged that the three-layer teh-C peng originated under these very roofs before gaining popularity all over Kuching.
In fact, I had my very first three-layer teh-C peng right here at Fresh Food Court a few years back. Boy, it was love at first sight. Ever since I had that cup, I’ve been a devoted teh-C peng lover. And in my personal opinion, Fresh Food Court still is home to the best teh-C peng Kuching can offer.
Their popularity grew city-wide purely by word of mouth. Their teh-C peng is so good, and tauke so modest, they dont need to advertise their speciality at all. Seriously, you could be sitting in there all day without a clue that they serve Kuching’s best teh-C peng.
Fresh Food Court charges a decent RM1.40 a glass. Take away is slightly more costly at RM1.80, probably due to the larger size of their sealed plastic take-away cup.
» Sin Chong Choon Cafe, Jalan Lapangan Terbang
Well was I gonna stop here and say there’s only one place where you get decent teh-C peng. But luckily for you, I decided to research a little more into other alternatives if somehow getting to 7th mile is a huge hassle for you.
Ever since Kuching’s city-wide teh-C peng craze, many food courts have been trying frantically to reproduce that exact ‘Fresh Food Court teh-C peng’ flavour (we’ll be calling this the FFC flavour from here on). Unfortunately, many of them failed when they just couldn’t get the syrup flavour right.
The only other place that got the taste right, if not close, is the Sin Chong Choon Cafe at Jalan Lapangan Terbang, just next to the Hock Peng tower facing the BDC interchange.
» Chong Choon Cafe, Abell Road
Size does matter. At Chong Choon Cafe, you be spoilt with choices on how large would you like your teh-C peng. Large, Extra Large, Small - you name it.
When they say large, they mean large. And that’s one of the reasons why they deserve a mention here. While the portion is huge, the teh-C peng they serve isn’t quite that perfect FFC flavour. I dont know what went wrong but if you’re craving for a huge teh-C peng experience, this is the place for you.
Oh, and if Chong Choon Cafe isn’t quite known for its large teh-C pengs, its perhaps more known for serving one of the best Sarawak Laksa in Kuching. Availability: before noon.
The above examples of recommendations are listed out based on my observations alone. Thus, it is no way complete. If you feel that I’m missing something to the best teh-C peng list, feel free to recommend alternatives through the comments below. I’ll more than glad. =D
Sources: Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, 2007, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, http://www.singlishdictionary.com/singlish_K.htm#kopi-C, Retrieved on 22 July 2008
Feed:
*swims in own saliva*
why do not they have this magic stuff in KL!?? or maybe they do….and maybe I should really get moving and start Earth Hour already!
I haven’t seen any in KL as far as i know. =(
Try an order for teh-C peng ’special’ next time you’re in a kopitiam. If there is the waiter comes back with a glass that resembles those in the photos above, you’re in luck!
If he doesn’t, well, you’d still probably have teh-C peng ’special’ with a float or something. =P
[...] Check out my page on the drink here. I added a reference to this post under the header on how to make yourself a glass of teh-C peng. [...]
I got forwarded your webpage link from my colleague, viewing it from work in Aust….Man, you make me miss home~
Great design of your website, proud of you..(thought you’re not “quite a kuching” cat)
Cool! Always great to know Kuchingnites living overseas. =P
Oh and thank you! I’ve been living in Kuching for a good chunk of my life - well let’s just put it this way, the only thing that sets aside me and the average Kuchingnite is that he is born in Kuching and i’m not. =)
Oh wow, your blog is nothing short of impressive really. =) Btw, you should submit this page to Wikipedia or something. haha So the world will know tehCpeng and all its wonders. ;D
Yeah! I’ve been wanting to do that forever! But procrastination got the better of me.
Hrm.. maybe I should work on it soon! =D
[...] a related note, I’ve spent some time revamping the most important page of tehCpeng.net - the About the drink page. I’ve noticed there’s an increasing number of you who arrived on that page while [...]