Teh C Peng Special: Sarawak Three-Layer Iced Palm Sugar Milk Tea

Steps

1. 1Melt the sugars over medium heat

   Put the chopped palm sugar, brown sugar, granulated sugar and ¼ cup (60 ml) of water just off the boil into a small saucepan. Set it over medium heat and stir for about 10 minutes until everything dissolves. Palm sugar sticks and catches easily, so keep scraping the bottom of the pan with the spatula as you stir. Move on once no solid lumps are left and the liquid is a smooth, dark amber.

2. 2Add pandan and cook the syrup down on low heat

   Lay the two pandan leaves in the syrup and turn the heat to low. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring now and then and still scraping the bottom. Small bubbles will rise at the edges and the syrup will darken and thicken. Take it off the heat when it is glossy, a deep caramel colour, and slightly looser than honey as it runs off the spatula.

   Syrup thickness decides the layers

   If the syrup is too thin, it mixes into the milk and you get a muddy band instead of a clean line. If it is too thick, it turns hard as it cools. Aim for slightly looser than honey while it is hot. If it has gone too far, stir in a little water.

3. 3Jar the syrup while it is hot

   Lift out the pandan leaves. Pour the syrup into an airtight jar straight away, because it thickens as it cools and gets harder to pour. Scrape the pan with the spatula to get the last of it out. Close the jar and let it cool. Cooled syrup should still drip slowly and evenly from a teaspoon.

4. 4Brew the tea strong

   Put the two tea bags in a heatproof jug and pour over 1 cup plus 4 tsp (260 ml) of water just off the boil. Steep for at least 2 minutes, or up to 5 for a stronger brew, pressing the bags lightly with a spoon. Lift the bags out and squeeze them against the side. The tea is ready when it is a deep red-brown.

5. 5Spoon the syrup into the glass

   Take the chilled tumbler and spoon 4 tbsp of syrup into the bottom. Let each spoonful drop into the middle of the glass without touching the sides, so the walls stay clean above the layer. Give the syrup a moment to settle. You should see a shallow, level pool of dark caramel at the bottom and empty glass above it.

6. 6Fill the glass with ice

   Fill the glass to the rim with ice cubes, setting them in gently instead of dropping them. Use whole cubes, because crushed ice packs tightly and lets the next layers run together. The ice gives the milk something to land on so it does not sink into the syrup. The glass is ready when the ice reaches the rim and the dark syrup is still a separate layer underneath.

7. 7Pour the evaporated milk over the ice

   Pour the evaporated milk slowly over the top of the ice in a thin stream. Aim at a single cube near the side of the glass, so the milk runs down over the ice instead of falling straight onto the syrup. Stop when all of it is in. You should see a level white band sitting on top of the brown syrup with a clean line between them.

   Pour slowly and from low down

   Keep the jug close to the ice and the stream thin for both the milk and the tea. A fast pour pushes liquid down through the layer below and mixes them. For the tea, you can pour it over the back of a spoon held just above the milk.

8. 8Pour the tea last

   Pour the tea slowly on top of the milk until the glass is full, holding a spoon just above the milk if you want to break the fall. The tea is lighter than the milk, so it stays on top as long as you do not pour hard. Stop just below the rim. When it is done you can see three clear, level bands through the glass: dark syrup, white milk and amber tea.

9. 9Stir before you drink

   Take your picture now, while the layers are still clean. Then push a long spoon to the bottom and stir. How much you stir sets the sweetness: stir everything in for the full sweetness, or leave some syrup at the bottom for a lighter drink. When fully stirred, the drink turns one even, light caramel milk-tea colour from top to bottom.