Cà Phê Trứng (Vietnamese Egg Coffee)

Hanoi’s egg coffee: strong coffee under a thick cream of egg yolk beaten with sugar and condensed milk. Made here with pasteurized yolks, because the yolk is not cooked.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Vietnamese Coffee page.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons Vietnamese ground coffee
• ½ cup (120 ml) hot water
• 2 pasteurized egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
• 1 pinch cocoa powder or cinnamon, optional

Directions

Key ingredients

Cinnamon · Sweetened Condensed Milk

1. Set the phin on a small cup, add the coffee and press it down, wet it with a little hot water and let it bloom for about 15 seconds. Fill the phin with the rest of the water and let it drain completely. (Or make 2 to 3 oz of strong coffee any other way.)
2. While the coffee drips, beat the yolks, sugar and condensed milk in a small bowl with a hand mixer or whisk until light, frothy and much increased in volume.
3. Spoon the egg cream over the coffee. Taste, and add more sugar or condensed milk if wanted.
4. Dust with cocoa or cinnamon, if using. In Hanoi the cup is often stood in a small bowl of hot water to keep it warm.

Notes

Where this comes from After Vicky Pham’s “Vietnamese Egg Coffee (Cà Phê Trứng)” (2023). Café Giảng in Hanoi, where the drink is said to have begun in 1946, lists butter and cheese among its ingredients as well; its recipe is not published. Food safety The yolks are eaten raw: hot coffee underneath does not cook them. The FDA’s advice for dishes served with raw or undercooked egg is to use eggs treated to destroy Salmonella, by pasteurization. Children, older adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are at greater risk. Iced Cool the coffee, pour it over ice, then add the egg cream. The photo Cups of egg coffee standing in bowls of hot water at a café in Hanoi; it is not this recipe’s cup.