Cà Phê Muối (Vietnamese Salt Coffee)
Drink · Vietnamese · Asian
Strong phin coffee with condensed milk under a lightly salted cream: an imitation of the salt coffee created in Huế in 2010, whose recipe is secret.
Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Vietnamese Coffee page.
Ingredients
- 25 g finely ground coffee
- 75 ml boiling water, used as 25 ml and 50 ml (see directions)
- 40 ml sweetened condensed milk, divided into two 20 ml portions
- 50 ml whipping cream
- 0.5 to 3 g salt (a pinch up to about ½ teaspoon; see notes)
Directions
Key ingredients
- Put the coffee in the phin, level it and press it firmly with the press. Pour about 25 ml of boiling water over it, cover, and wait about 2 minutes. The source then pours this first brew away; keep it if you prefer a milder cup.
- Pour the remaining 50 ml of boiling water into the phin and let it drip through completely into a glass.
- In a cup, beat the cream, 20 ml of the condensed milk and the salt with a whisk or egg beater for about 20 seconds, until combined and slightly thickened.
- Stir the other 20 ml of condensed milk into the coffee.
- Pour the salted cream slowly over the coffee so it floats on top.
Notes
Where this comes from After the cà phê muối in Toplist.vn’s “Top 10 coffee recipes” (Vietnamese; undated). The original café in Huế, at 10 Nguyễn Lương Bằng, keeps its recipe secret, and VnExpress describes its salt layer as fermented milk mixed with salt rather than cream, so every published recipe is an imitation. The salt The source uses 3 g of salt in about 70 ml of cream and condensed milk, which is strong. Other recipes use much less (about 0.5 g with 50 ml of cream). Start with a pinch and add more to taste. The first brew Pouring away the first wetting appears in this and a few other Vietnamese recipes; most phin recipes keep it. The photo A glass of salt coffee in Tân Phú, Ho Chi Minh City, 2023; it is not this recipe’s cup.