One of the highlights of any trip is visiting markets. Fresh produce—vegetables, fruits, or spices—is always stimulating. What the locals eat or drink satisfies my curiosity about local culinary preferences. Bazaars are equally intriguing. We can delight ourselves in savouring local artists’ and artisans’ creativity and ingenuity. (I often check if the goods are made in China!) My impression? Uzbekistan markets are fascinating!
A pleasant surprise awaited us as we walked through one of the larger and newer Bukhara markets – we were unprepared for “freshly” brewed Ipoh White Coffee!
Ipoh White Coffee is as exotic to Bukhara as Bukhara is to the residents of Ipoh (or the people in this corner of our world). Not long ago, if someone had asked me what I knew about Bukhara, I would probably have smiled and embarrassingly mumbled, “The Silk Road” and not much more. But since I visited this “obscure” (because of my ignorance) central Asian country, I can start telling some stories about Uzbekistan.
Because we are so familiar with White Coffee, we take (Ipoh) White Coffee for granted. Recently, according to TasteAtlas, Ipoh White Coffee was ranked 10th on the “Top 39 Coffees in the World.” The report mentioned, “The origin of this roasting style is usually associated with Hainanese migrants in Malaysia, who adapted the classic technique to create a beverage with a milder, lightly caramelized coffee flavour.” Furthermore, Lonely Planet’s Global Coffee Tour named Tokyo, Chiang Mai and Ipoh the world’s top three coffee towns.
The original version of Ipoh White Coffee comes enriched with condensed milk characterized by a light foam on top. The description of “white” does not refer to whether we have black coffee (no milk) or white (with milk or an artificial creamer). “White” in Ipoh White Coffee is a literal translation of the Chinese word 白. In Chinese, 白 can mean white or a lighter colour (relative to something else). The reference (comparison) is the traditional Malay roasting coffee with margarine (or oil) and sugar. The resultant heavily caramelized coffee beans look very dark.
On the other hand, Ipoh White Coffee’s roasting lacks sugar, making the roasted beans appear lighter (白). Let us use the analogy of a white man versus a black man to clarify this. The skin of the white man is by no means white but lighter or paler than most other racial groups.
Malaysia has produced Ipoh White Coffee, made it world-class, and has exported it to Uzbekistan. I think another Malaysian coffee may achieve a similar or higher ranking. What do you think? Will Starbugs fly?
Vince
Dr Vincent Chong is a retired Professor of Radiology at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
