Lao ba cha 老爸茶 or literally old dad tea is not a type of tea at all - instead, it is a culture and lifestyle of leisurely enjoying food and drink, as well as the institutions (coffee / tea shops that facilitate Hainan's LBC culture).
When you come to Hainan island in China, your hosts or locals will point you to lao ba cha 老爸茶 and won't let you leave without experiencing it 😄
Hong Kong has yum cha, the English have afternoon tea, Hainan has lao ba cha.
In the old days, LBC places were just humble tea shops serving noodle and some simple snacks with tea and coffee.
They say it's a culture or custom brought back by emigres from Nanyang i.e. British Malaya and Dutch East Indies in the early 1900s.
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| British Malaya kopitiam is the grand daddy of Hainan old daddy tea shops |
The closest thing we have in Malaysia and Singapore are coffee shops or kopitiam.
Nanyang emigre were usually elder folks with leisure, hence the term "old dad" or lao ba 老爸. They met up regularly for hours on end at tea / coffee shops to reminiscence and exchange stories about their time in Nanyang. This habit soon caught on with the wider community in Hainan, leading to the proliferation of lao ba cha places.
Traditionally, Hainan tea or coffee shops are run by a sole proprietor or family. There are no tenanted food stalls (unlike in their Singapore / Malaysia counterparts).
With growing economic prosperity from around the 1980s, the dingy old rustic hole-in-the-wall lao ba cha places were slowly replaced by large well appointed restaurants / tea & coffee shops.
Today's (2024) lao ba cha are often far grander in scale and decor as well as much larger in size than their predecessors.
Lao ba cha now serve a wide variety of dishes from dim sum, noodles to cold dishes, and Western style bakes. The whole range of cuisine from across China and the world meet here in LBC.
The serving protocol has become optimised for efficiency. Customers order, the staff mark their order sheet, serve the dishes on trays, and customers take it away to their own tables. Much like a canteen or Singapore food court. Some personal touch and interaction between the lao ba cha owner and customers are sacrificed.
Lao ba chal dim sum variety and quality rival the Hong Kong cha lao or teahouse.
Generally, the quality of steam buns (bao) in Hainan was very good. Relatively thick skin but it was delightfully puffy, pillowy and airy. The filling flavours were gentle and balanced too.
Fried chin dui or glutinous rice balls coated with sesame seed.
In Singapore, large chin dui have been extinct for decades and even then was only made for special occasions (like weddings and birthdays).
In Hainan, they serve it at lao ba cha in piles (albeit not as big in size but nearly).
I like this reddish chee cheong fun rice roll wrapping crisp you cha kueh and crunchy shrimp. The rice rolls were red because they used a red rice grain.
Tender, crunchy, savoury boneless stewed duck web. One of my favourite things at lao ba cha. I always pick up a plate when they have it at LBC.
Some LBC have dedicated crepe sections.
I like this crepe which was a soft chewy pandan flavour sweet crepe topped with a layer of crispies made by dripping flowing batter into hot oil.
The crispies were like sweet popcorn. The crisps are like tepung they sometimes put on mee rebus in Malaysia but this was sweetened. The layered sweetness was delicious and the mix of soft and crisp was interesting.
For drinks, they still have traditional Chinese tea, Nanyang kopi, as well as contemporary syrupy concoctions popular with younger folk.
The two ladies standing with the orange caps and large sling bags were "tea ladies". They sell, serve tea and top up your tea pots. The sling bags contain various blends of teas.
Regulars even get to keep their own teas at the lao ba cha in the locked tea cabinet.
The tea and coffee are served with bottomless (refillable) hot water so the unspoken rule is you can stay as long as you like as per LBC tradition.
I had their version of kopi kosong (with condensed milk, sans sugar). It's Robusta with thick dollops of condensed milk. The Robusta isn't quite as bitter as their Malaysia / Singapore counterparts. The sweet bitter concoction works well with the sweet and savoury small bites LBCs serve.
The taste for Nanyang kopi came from Hainanese emigre who returned to the island, bringing back their new habits with them.
While the form of lao ba cha has changed just as Hainan / China has changed, the spirit of the LBC institution remains. LBC provides people a place to gather, a sort of third place other than the home (first place) and work place (second place).
Family, neighbours and friends gather at lao ba cha to bond over food and drinks. The decibel level is normally high from all the chatter from all corners of the coffee shop. Everyone wants to be heard above the chatter 🤭
Two trips to Hainan, nearly a month total stay. We ended up at various lao ba cha frequently as they are conveniently located, comfortably furnished, nice decor, clean and bright, wide range of dishes, laid back atmosphere, a whole day to eat, drink, be merry at competitive prices.
Written by Tony Boey on 9 Nov 2024
There is a saying in China - 10 People that went to Nanyang , 7 returned.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, we are the minority 30% that decided to stay in Nanyang.
While we always emphasise Nanyang Chinese like us has contributed in Nanyang, in think more research needs to be done on how returned Chinese on Nanyang has influenced China or their hometown in the province of Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan.