Coffee Story: Hor Ga Sai (虎咬狮) “Tiger Bites Lion”

In 2017, when travelling in West Malaysia, I came across this traditional coffee named “hor ga sai“, meaning “tiger bites lion” (虎咬狮) in Hokkien, in Taiping, Perak. At that point in time, the beverage was hailed as “uniquely-Taiping” as it was a specialty drink that originated and available in Taiping only. In less than 10 years’ time, hor ga sai had became widely available in kopitiam-style restaurants throughout Malaysia.

Why “Tiger Bites Lion”

Nobody knows for sure how the name “tiger bites lion” was coined — many said that the coffee-Milo blend gave tin miners, in the 1950s, the belief that they would get immense energy boost from the drink, like being able to “bite a lion”. Anyway, it is a Hokkien’s way of expressing things.

In Taiwan, the Taiwanese gua bao (刈包) is nicknamed “tiger bites pig” (虎咬豬, or “hor ga di” in Taiwanese) because the folded, fluffy white bun resembles a tiger’s jaw clamping down on a filling of pork belly meat — a visual appearance of the dish.

Ingredients

The Taiping-specialty coffee is made by adding malted chocolate powder, using a particular local brand known as “Milo” by Nestle, to traditional kopi-O. The 2-in-1 hor ga sai is similar to Western-style caffè mocha except that it uses traditional pre-mixed coffee and without milk — some called it an Asian mocha. The strong flavours of both the malt-chocolate and kopi-O are distinctive — sweet chocolaty with bitterness of black coffee.

Outside of Taiping, variations in the use of the two main ingredients — chocolate / cocoa powder and white / black coffee — may result in different flavours of hor ga sai and, in some places, milk or sugar may be added to tune the flavours and sweetness.

Note: “White coffee” refers to coffee ground that are pre-mixed without caramelised sugar and roasted the traditional way, not a cup of “milk coffee”, which is not white anyway.

What About “Lion Bites Tiger”

Remember, it is “tiger bites lion” for coffee with chocolate, mix up the order and you get “lion bites tiger” or sai ga hor (狮咬虎), which is traditional teh (black tea + sugar + condensed / evaporated milk) added with chocolate / cocoa powder — that is 3-in-1 inclusive of milk.

And when chocolate / cocoa powder is added to cham (鸳鸯), which is kopi + milk tea), you will get a 4-in-1 beverage that goes by many names — one name that I came across in Sandakan, Sabah, is “Satu Malaysia”.

Where to try hor ga sai? Well, most kopitiams in Johor Bahru will serve the specialty-coffee, although a trip to Taiping to try the specialty coffee and its original taste may be more rewarding.

Next:

Coffee Story: Hand-Beaten / Dalgona Coffee (手打咖啡)