Vietnamese egg coffee, called Cà Phê Trứng in Hanoi: strong Phin coffee under an airy cream of egg yolk and condensed milk, almost a dessert.
Use the Phin filter to brew a small, strong coffee with about 60 ml of water and pour it into a cup.
Separate the egg yolk from the white. Put the yolk together with the condensed milk (and optionally a little sugar) into a bowl.
Whisk the egg yolk and condensed milk with a mixer or whisk for 5-10 minutes until the mixture turns pale, creamy and foamy, similar to zabaione.
Carefully spoon the egg-yolk cream on top of the hot coffee without stirring it in. This creates the typical two-layer look.
Best served warm. Enjoy the cream and coffee together with a spoon at the end. Traditionally the cup is kept warm in a bowl of hot water.
Tip
Only use fresh eggs and prepare the cream right before serving. The longer you whisk, the more stable and creamy the topping becomes.
Vietnamese egg coffee, Cà Phê Trứng in Vietnamese, comes from Hanoi and was created in the 1940s when milk was scarce. Instead of milk, egg yolk is whipped with sweetened condensed milk until foamy and spooned onto hot coffee. The result is a thick, creamy topping reminiscent of tiramisu that tastes nothing like egg. Egg coffee is more dessert than drink and is traditionally eaten and sipped at the same time.
No. Whipping the yolk at length with condensed milk and sugar removes its own flavour and turns it into a sweet, vanilla-like cream. If you did not know, you would guess zabaione or eggnog rather than egg.
The yolk is not fully cooked, so use fresh eggs and make the cream right before serving. The hot coffee warms it further from below. If you want to be completely safe, use pasteurised egg yolk.
A strong but not overly bitter coffee, classically a Robusta and Arabica blend or an Arabica like our Moka. The sweet egg cream needs a counterpart, while the coffee should not bury the delicate notes of the cream.
Five to ten minutes, until the mixture is visibly paler, thick and foamy. Whipped too briefly it stays liquid and sinks into the coffee instead of sitting on top as a stable layer.
Yes, any strong coffee works as the base, including espresso. What matters is that it is concentrated enough to carry the sweet cream. The Phin simply delivers the traditional intensity most reliably.
We recommend
Ca Phe Moka – 100% Arabica Bohnen
9,99 €
