EatingAsia

Taiwan, Asian Coffee Mecca - Who Knew?

Not us, until research for a story on coffee in Asia led us to the island last June.

As we relate in an article in today's (Friday's) Wall Street Journal Asia 'Weekend Journal', Taiwanese are serious about their java, and that makes the island one of the easiest places in Asia to find a superior cup. I'm not sure where else in the world, other than Japan, you're more likely to find nothing-special neighborhood cafes serving siphon coffee brewed by the cup with fresh beans ground a la minute.

(The piece also includes my sidebars on coffee culture in Malaysia and Vietnam, and a writer in Japan contributed a piece on that country's java scene.)

And some photo out takes here.

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The photo above wasn't taken on Taiwan, but in one of our favorite Malaysian kopitiam (coffee shops): Sin Yin Loong in Ipoh, an old tin mining town a couple of hours north of Kuala Lumpur. 

The beverage of choice at Sin Yin Loong is a local specialty - 'white' coffee.

While regular Malaysian-style kopi is made with beans roasted with butter (or margarine) and sugar (the latter 'burns' on the beans, making Malaysian kopi extra dark and not a little bit bitter), beans for white coffee are roasted with butter/margarine only. The result is a lighter but very rich, smooth, and almost caramel-y brew that really stands up to ice; it's always served sporting a thick head of whisk-induced froth.

When we were in Ipoh last March - for only a little over 24 hours - we spent a disproportionate amount of time drinking in white coffee, and Sin Yoon Loong's homely ambience. Whenever we stopped in for hot or iced (and a piece of the shop's justifiably famous cream-filled sponge roll) -- whether it noon, 2pm, 5pm, 7:30am, or mid-morning (the stuff really is that addictive) --  the place was consistently packed. 

In recent years white coffee has become a bit of a gimmick in Malaysia; it's served at regular and chain kopitiam (such as Old Town White Coffee, established by Sin Yoon Loong's across-the-street-competitor), and you can even buy it in instant powdered form. Just add water. 

But it was at Sin Yin Loong that we had our first taste of the real deal, no other version comes close. The locals seem to agree.

Sin Yoon Loong, 15A Jalan Bandar Timah, Ipoh Malaysia. 60-52/241-4601. 7am till evening.

 

Death of an American General Store

There was a day when every rural American town had a General Store. At these usually family-owned and operated institutions locals could post a letter, catch up on the latest gossip, gas up their trucks, and pick up everything from a hundred-pound bag of livestock feed to a quart of milk.

I wonder how many of these places exist anymore. Martin's, a general store a few miles from my parents' rural New Mexican home that dates back to the 1930s and boasts a beautiful tin ceiling and authentic Old West false-front facade, just closed this past August.

Now the 1,300 or so residents of El Rito, a farming and ranching town that attracted Spanish settlers in the early 18th century, have to drive about 20 minutes or so to pump gas or buy a newspaper.

 
This isn't the case of a local being driven out of business by the arrival of a big chain store; word has it that the owner of Martin's closed shop so he could enjoy his golden years. The building is for rent. But what with the current state of the economy and a Wal-Mart within a 45-minute drive, I'm doubtful that the place will reopen anytime soon.

El Rito's kind of a quiet town. Traffic along its one main road does pick up during tourist season, when visitors make the drive for the award-winning green chile stew at El Farolito, just across the street from Martin's (I highly recommend the red chile enchiladas as well).

But the other night El Farolita was quiet (though the red chile sauce was as good as ever).

And meanwhile Martin's sits empty, its shelves still -- strangely -- half-stocked, a shopping cart in front of the check-out counter, looking for all the world like a store in one of those horror movies about the plague that befalls a town and, within half an hour, kills off the entire populace as it's going about its daily business.