Vietnamese recipe
How to make Cà phê trứng (egg coffee)
cà phê trứng
Hanoi, late 1940s
Strong black coffee topped with a thick, sweet cream of egg yolk whipped with sugar and condensed milk. It is served in a small cup, often standing in a bowl of hot water, and you eat the foam with a teaspoon before drinking the coffee underneath.
Ingredients
- 2 very fresh pasteurised egg yolks (the yolks are only lightly warmed, so use pasteurised eggs, especially for pregnant women, young children, older people or anyone with a weak immune system)
- 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 200 ml very strong hot coffee (from a phin, espresso machine or cafetière)
Method
- Put the yolks, condensed milk and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of hot water, not touching the water.
- Whisk with an electric whisk for 3 to 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick, pale and fluffy, like soft whipped cream.
- Stand two small cups in a bowl of hot water to keep them warm, and pour 100 ml of hot coffee into each.
- Spoon the egg cream gently on top of the coffee.
- Serve with a teaspoon: eat some of the cream first, then stir the rest into the coffee.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
The family of Hanoi's Café Giảng says its founder, Nguyễn Giảng, created the drink in the late 1940s, when milk was scarce, using egg yolk instead.
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