Explore the traditional roasting method of coffee beans in Malaysia

Ljok used to be an area famous for planting sweet potatoes and coffee in Malaysia. Now it is difficult to see the shadow of sweet potatoes again. Coffee bean growers are almost exclusively Malay farmers. In the past, all coffee growers were Chinese. Now they have almost all switched to planting oil crops that are easier to care for and more economically valuable. Overall, coffee planting area has decreased.

Su Mingshun, the owner of the only coffee processing factory in the area, has been roasting coffee beans for more than 40 years and now he has begun to teach his skills to his son Su Jinchang.

Sue shared some tips for roasting coffee, such as roasting it at a low temperature to avoid undercooking the beans. He also revealed that "white coffee is unsweetened, black coffee and beans are added in a ratio of 1:1 to make the coffee taste stronger." He also exposed unscrupulous businessmen who cut costs by adding barley to their coffee beans.

He showed us how to roast coffee beans, first lighting the firewood under the boiler, then pouring 18KG of coffee beans into the wok, stirring them with the machine and cooling them with a fan.

"Low roasting is very important. Coffee beans need to be stir-fried in a pan for 1 hour. When the beans are dry, add a little salt and butter, and then add sugar." This is Sue's recipe for roasting.

If the roasted coffee beans are too sticky, they will clump together, so Sue and his son shake them apart before grinding the coffee.

Su Mingshun's factory now supplies coffee beans to hundreds of restaurants and cafes. Although many coffee processing plants buy Indonesian and Brazilian coffee beans, he still insists on using local coffee beans, because he believes that local coffee beans, although more expensive than Indonesian and Brazilian beans, taste significantly better.