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Tip: Try Condensed Milk In Your Hot Tea

2009_10_09-Tea.jpgMany years ago I was invited to a friend's house for tea. His father is Indian, his mother is French, and my friend was born in England, so their house was this great multicultural mix of traditions. As we sat down for tea, his father slid me a plate of Indian sweets called burfi, and poured me a cup of almond tea. Instead of the usual milk, the creamer contained condensed milk, which he gestured to me to try in my tea. And it was wonderful. Rich, sweet, and milky.

 
 

I have been told that this is common among South and Southeast Asians. It really does change the flavor of the tea. I've tried it with plain black tea and with masala chai tea, and it's delicious. Give it a try!

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(Image: Kathryn Hill)

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Beverages, Ingredients - Pantry, tea, sweet, sweeteners, sweetened condensed milk, condensed milk

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Comments (18)

My grandmother has always used condensed milk in her coffee and its the best coffee I've ever had, still to this day.

posted by designerny on October 9th 2009 at 2:00pm
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We use it in our coffee, too. There's always a can in the fridge and a couple back ups in the cupboard.

posted by Fnnkybutt on October 9th 2009 at 2:01pm
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One of my favorite drinks is Hong Kong milk tea, which is black tea with either evaporated milk and sugar, or condensed milk. So delicious!

posted by rqb on October 9th 2009 at 2:06pm
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i love condensed milk but am too scared to keep it at home as i eat it by the spoonful
Also chai is the Hindi word for Tea. If you mean Chai with spices in it then it is called masala chai or masala tea.

posted by missmay on October 9th 2009 at 2:06pm
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missmay - I did not know that. Thanks for the clarification. I think this is a common misconception among Americans.

posted by Kathryn Hill on October 9th 2009 at 2:07pm
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so do you eliminate the sugar then? i have had this with thai tea when i lived in china and it was really delicious but i kind of remember them offering a simple syrup in a small jug along with the canned milk - but then i just assumed it was because fresh milk isn't really big in asia!

posted by Joan in SB on October 9th 2009 at 2:36pm
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That's sooooo funny! I am so glad you posted this! My mom ALWAYS put condensed milk in her afternoon tea, and I thought it was the normal thing to do! I admit...I LOVE eating bread with condensed milk. It's heavenly.

posted by Belinda at Zomppa on October 9th 2009 at 2:51pm
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And those are the same biscuits we ate!

posted by Belinda at Zomppa on October 9th 2009 at 2:51pm
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is condensed milk the same as sweetened condensed milk?

posted by galaxiekat on October 9th 2009 at 4:53pm
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The "authentic" way for Thai tea is to use condensed milk instead of sugar. Well, that's how my dad always made it, so it's the only way I like it. Also, Vietnamese coffee is used with condensed milk. I'm not much into sweets, but I LOVE condensed milk. I eat it by the spoonfull!! As a late night snack, I used to warm it in the microwave and then add Smart Start and milk. BEST. SNACK. EVER.

posted by meereesa on October 9th 2009 at 4:55pm
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yup, I grew up with HK milky tea as well. It is very strong black tea with sweetened condensed milk and it is delicious! Since HK is warm year round it's also very popular iced (a revelation to me the last time I was there). In fact Haagen-Dazs makes a milky tea ice cream flavor and it's out of control! I wish they'd bring it to the States already

posted by Slow Lorus on October 9th 2009 at 9:02pm
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Mmm... condensed milk in tea/coffee AND on a piece of toast.

posted by Raena on October 9th 2009 at 9:28pm
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Yeah, I'm also wondering whether you mean sweetened condensed milk. I'm assuming so, but you could possibly be referring to evaporated because you did not specify that it is sweetened.

posted by Kakugori on October 10th 2009 at 12:19am
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After doing my own personal kitchen cure, I found a bunch of old cookbooks of my dearly departed mother's. One happened to be one I gave her that she never cooked out of, as it was too "Big City" to her cream of mushroom tastes.

The cookbook is called Mesa Mexicana by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger(are they the Two Hot Tamales?)\ and the last recipe in there is for homemade sweetened condensed milk. It's made with less sugar, so I think it would change a recipe's taste, but I always found the tinned stuff to be diabetic coma sweet anyway.

Here's the recipe:
6 cups of nonfat milk(one of the reasons Miliken and Feniger say they use their own recipe is because they want to use nonfat milk, but I bet if whole would work too.)
5 tablespoons of sugar

Pour milk into a medium heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the sugar and continue simmering 10 to 15 minutes or until reduced to 3 cups. Strain. May be refrigerated up to a week.

I think I am going to try this tomorrow.

P.S. I don't mind cream of mushroom stuff, but I prefer my own homemade.

posted by kitchengoddess on October 10th 2009 at 6:10pm
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This is actually very common in Germany where I´m from!

posted by Lillian on October 11th 2009 at 9:53am
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I meant sweetened condensed milk, yes.

posted by Kathryn Hill on October 11th 2009 at 12:33pm
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i spent a summer in russia many years ago and learned to love sweetened condensed milk in my tea, as well as on bread and just about anything else i could pour it onto! the tea, also called chai in russian, was strong, black, and loose leaf.
i hadn't thought about this in years! thanks for the reminder...

posted by cassiopia on October 11th 2009 at 3:36pm
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@kitchengoddess: Thank you for posting this! I was just looking for a recipe for sweetened condensed milk today and all of the ones I found called for powdered milk. I had a feeling it could be make with just milk and sugar.

posted by The Green Cat on October 16th 2009 at 3:09pm
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