Ho kai sai or 虎咬狮 is the Hokkien Chinese way of saying "tiger bites lion". No one is sure how this fanciful moniker or the bitter sweet chocolaty concoction came about.
Its birthplace is often attributed to Taiping, Perak, presumably in a kopitiam or coffee shop in the 1950s. Some say hor ka sai originally came from the fishing town of Kuala Kurau in northwest Perak state near the border with Penang. It spread mainly around northern Peninsula Malaysia e.g. to Penang which is also sometimes mentioned as the place of origin.
As for the catchy name, there are a couple of speculations (there are no documents or even oral history, so it's all coffeeshop chatter, literally).
A widely cited one has it that the concoction gives the drinker such a huge boost of energy and vigour that it could make a tiger bite and subdue the king of the jungle.
Another said that it was a miners' energy drink. Perak state was the centre of Malaya's tin mining industry during its heyday. Hor ka sai provided the miners the shot of energy that powered them to move great loads during their day at the mines.
Yet others claimed that hor ka sai 好架勢 is actually a Cantonese expression.
It is the Cantonese way of commenting in an envious sarcastic tone about someone's showy display of wealth or status. Perhaps that was because hor ka sai was the most expensive hot beverage in the coffee shop's drinks menu 😄
May I create another hor ka sai urban legend? 😜 It's the 1950s, Malayan nationalism was rising. The locals wanted to free themselves from the British yoke. Some unknown persons invented the name hor ka sai to remind themselves of this dream of freedom every time they drink their chocolaty coffee - which was every morning ☕
Did hor ka sai 虎咬狮 meant the Malayan tiger was springing up to bite (challenge) the British lion? There you are, invite me for your kopi session next time 🫢
Which theory do you think is the correct answer?
Whatever its origin, join in the fun. When you are in Perak or Taiping or Kuala Kurau, try a hor ka sai.
Hor ka sai is served both hot or cold with ice.
I will find out where you can get good hor ka sai in Singapore and Johor (please help me with it 🙏). Starting, of course, with:
Ah Song Hakka Mee in Impian Emas 👈 click
Hello Tony, thanks for sharing. You could find the uniquely taiping food and drink like horkasai at JB Bukit indah. A shop that runs by authentic Taiping Lang, they have the real Taiping/Sepetang taste.
ReplyDelete香妈海鲜椰奖饭
https://www.facebook.com/xiangma.nasilemak?mibextid=ZbWKwL
Thank you. I hope to visit when I have the opportunity.
DeleteTried and love it. Taste like mocha but sweeter and more gao
ReplyDeleteHi! There's two stalls (with the same name) at bendemeer market that sells this drink.
ReplyDeleteCan find this drink selling in kopitiam just outside city square JB Sentral
ReplyDeleteThe toast at mt Austin has it. I wondered what it was and googled it, and found your article :)
ReplyDeleteKopiloco in JB along Jln Tan Hiok Nee (opp Hiap Joo) has this drink too!
ReplyDeleteDunman Food Center has hor ga sai ( top level , back row )
ReplyDeleteTired this HKS in Ipoh recently. when introduced, i thought my friend scolding me . HKS, in Cantonese, sounds like "ho kai sai" - machiam like you very yaya Papaya
ReplyDeleteToo thick and sweet. Cold in ice better
ReplyDeleteIT is very thick n rich. Drink cold taste better
ReplyDeleteI only came upon this hor-ka-sai a few years ago, and I thought it was a newly made-up name for a beverage, something like milo dinosaur.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought (or rather imagination) was that it came out from the friendly food rivalry between Malaysia and Singapore, whereby some disgruntled kopitiam uncle in JB wanted to go one-up on Singapore and named the beverage 'tiger(MY) bite(defeated) lion(SG)'. Thus hor-ka-sai (HKS). 🤣🤣🤣
Wan Gui Beverages at Bendemeer HC serves Hor Ka Sai either cold or hot, $2
ReplyDeleteNext time you come to Penang, I bring to the best "hor ka sai" spot in Penang - Kwang's. He's a Kuala Kurau native, where the drink originated. Funny thing is - he had 2 sons: the elder one is named Tiger. But the younger one is not Lion. 😂
ReplyDelete