Recipe

Cà Phê Trứng

Name: Cà Phê Trứng (Vietnamese egg coffee from Hà Nội)
Prep time: 8 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 14 min
Yield: 1 small cup
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 15 g Hanoi Haze, medium-fine grind; 60 ml hot water, 92–96 °C; 1 very fresh egg yolk, at room temperature; 1½ tbsp sweetened condensed milk; 1 tsp sugar, optional; 1 pinch cocoa powder, to dust, optional

Vietnamese egg coffee from Hà Nội

Egg yolk whipped with condensed milk into a thick, custard-like cream and spooned over hot black coffee. You eat the cream first, then drink the coffee underneath.

Prep: 8 min
Brew: 6 min
Total: 14 min
Makes: 1 small cup

HotHanoi Haze

Ingredients

Tick things off as you go.

15 g Hanoi Hazemedium-fine grind
60 ml hot water92–96 °C
1 very fresh egg yolkat room temperature
1½ tbsp sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp sugaroptional
1 pinch cocoa powderto dust, optional

You'll need

Phin filter
Small cup
Small bowl of hot water
Electric whisk or hand whisk

This recipe uses raw egg yolk. Use very fresh eggs, and skip it if you're pregnant, for young children, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system.

Method

Step 1: Brew the coffee first

Set the phin on a small cup, add the Hanoi Haze, level it and rest the press on top. Bloom with a splash of hot water, top up to 60 ml and let it drip. Stand the cup in a bowl of hot water to keep it hot.
5 min
Step 2: Separate the egg

Put the yolk in a clean, dry bowl. Keep the white for something else.
Step 3: Whip the cream

Add the condensed milk (and sugar, if using) and whisk until pale, thick and about three times the volume. It should fall from the whisk in a slow ribbon.
3–5 min electric, 8–10 by hand
Step 4: Spoon it on

Spoon the egg cream generously over the hot coffee so it sits on top in a thick layer. Don't stir.
Step 5: Serve warm

Dust with a little cocoa and serve in its bowl of hot water, with a small spoon.

Tips

Room temperature yolk

A yolk straight from the fridge whips slower and stays flatter. Take the egg out 30 minutes ahead.

Keep it hot

The cream cools the coffee quickly. The bowl of hot water isn't decoration; it's how Hà Nội cafés keep it warm.

Don't waste the white

Use the egg white for meringues or freeze it for later.

Born of a milk shortage

Cà phê trứng is usually traced to Hà Nội in 1946, when fresh milk was scarce and Nguyễn Văn Giảng, then working at the Sofitel Metropole, whisked egg yolk into coffee instead. His family still serves it at Café Giảng in the Old Quarter.

It is still a Hà Nội speciality: a small, rich cup for cold afternoons, more dessert than drink.

Questions

Does egg coffee taste of egg?

Not when it's whipped well. It tastes like a light custard or tiramisu cream over strong coffee.

Is raw egg safe?

Use very fresh eggs from a source you trust. People who are pregnant, young children, older people and anyone with a weakened immune system should avoid raw egg.