Monday, December 13, 2010

Char Chan Teng breakies - Lan Fong Yuen, Hong Kong

It seems Lan Fong Yuen has been around for ages :-) Over half a century!

Add: G/F, 2 Gage Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +825 2544 3895


Typically HK-style nai-char ...


Good stuff ... Pork sandwich!


Or how about some French Toast ...


LY bravely asked the propietor (who turned out to be really friendly, despite being so busy!) if she could take some photos at the inner-sanctum of the kitchen ...


Some history from westsidestorieshk.com
In 1952, Mr. Lam Muk Hor, also known as the father of 'silky milk tea' opened this food stall and named it 'Lan Fong Yuen'. He came to Hong Kong when he was a teenager. In 1952, he opened up his own Dai Pai Dong in Central Lyndhurst Terrace with his wife and sold coffee and tea.
Mr Lam claimed that Nanyang Old Coffee came famous when Hong Kong experienced the Opium Wars. But during the 50s and 60s, people started to accept Milk Tea. At first, most of them taste bitter since huge kettles are used to boil tea. He explained that it usually takes a long time to boil a huge kettle of tea which causes it to overcooked and also affects the taste of the tea by making it tastes bitter, for a good cup of milk tea, not more than 15 minutes of boiling time is perfect.

Therefore, he asked a tinsmith to make him a smaller copper kettle while his wife made a big loose leaf tea bag using cotton cloth out of a duvet cover. He said a smaller kettle reduces the time of boiling and the tea bag helps to take off the nasty grass flavor from the tea itself. They both contribute in making a cup of good quality and smooth milk tea.

During that period, many workers of the pier came by his stall for milk tea. When they saw him using the 'tea bag' to pour the boiled tea, they were amazed and thought the 'bag' was a brown silky pantyhose instead. Since then, people call it 'pantyhose milk tea'.

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