A bold, dark coffee roasted in a wok with sugar, margarine and salt, the defining drink of Malaysian kopitiams. Created by Hainanese kopitiam owners who caramelised cheap robusta with margarine to mimic richer flavour.
Hainanese coffee is the defining drink of the Malaysian kopitiam, created by Hainanese kopitiam owners who could not import Chinese tea or coffee cheaply. They caramelised cheap robusta beans with sugar and roasted them with margarine (or butter) and salt in a wok to mimic a richer flavour. The entire Malaysian and Singaporean coffee ordering vocabulary, kopi, kopi C, kopi O, cham (coffee-tea mix), stems from this Hainanese tradition, which began in the early 20th century.
Bold, dark, roasty and slightly sweet from the caramelised sugar, with a distinctive buttery, almost burnt edge from the margarine roast, served strong with condensed milk. Drunk hot in a small cup, it is intense, syrupy and unmistakably Malaysian.
The robusta beans are roasted in a wok with sugar caramelised around them, plus margarine and salt, which gives the beans their dark, glassy, almost burnt coating. The roasting is the defining step: the sugar caramelises into a hard shell on the beans, and the margarine adds fat and the characteristic flavour. After roasting and cooling, the beans are ground fine and brewed strong, then strained through a cloth sock filter into a cup with condensed or evaporated milk.
Variations
Kopi O is black with sugar only. Kopi C uses evaporated milk instead of condensed.
On the Palate
Where Hainanese Coffee Malaysian sits in the Malaysian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 10How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 15 min
Heat a wok over medium heat; add 500g raw robusta beans and stir 5 minutes to warm.
- 212 min
Add 250g sugar and continue stirring as it melts and caramelises around the beans, turning them dark.
Watch outKeep stirring as the sugar melts and caramelizes around the beans until they turn dark and glassy — this coating is the defining step; stop stirring and the sugar scorches and turns acrid.
- 35 min
Add 3 tbsp margarine and 1 tsp salt; stir until the beans are coated and glossy, about 5 minutes.
- 48 min
Spread on a tray and cool completely, then grind to a fine powder.
- 54 min
To brew: put 3 tbsp of the coffee powder in a cloth sock filter; pour 200ml boiling water through it into a cup with 2 tbsp condensed milk.
Watch outBrew strong through a cloth sock filter — the fine grind and slow drip through cloth pull out the dark, full body that defines Hainanese coffee.
- 62 min
Stir and serve hot in a small cup, or over ice for an iced version.
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