Coffee, as we all know, makes us feel alert. But what if there is an ingredient that makes us feel more alert than coffee does? What if there is an ingredient that actually makes us feel more alert than coffee does, and it costs just $2.50? More importantly, what if there is an ingredient that can make us feel more alert than coffee does, but which cannot be found in a Big Mac or a Starbucks? What if there is a secret ingredient that can make us feel more alert than coffee does, and which is only available in Vietnam?
Vietnamese Egg Coffee – A Vietnamese drink that is loved in Vietnam and abroad. This Vietnamese Egg Coffee Recipe is a classic coffee drink that is super easy to make and delicious for breakfast or as a pick-me-up,…
A cafe in Vietnam comprised of 4 ingredients.
Visits return to Canada include new recipes and my efforts to recreate meals I liked and experienced overseas after so many years of traveling for food. While my family is generally happy to be my test subjects, they were skeptical of the Vietnamese egg coffee recipe I brought home in 2013: a drink I originally had in Hanoi.
Trying new things in the kitchen is a nice break from the avalanche of news for people who are staying at home these days. You may have heard of dalgona coffee, a frothy coffee named after a honeycomb dessert that was featured in a South Korean film. Egg coffee is considerably more appealing to my taste senses.
I had previously read about adding eggs in coffee, especially in Scandinavian nations, where it was used to clarify the brew and produce an amber-colored cup of coffee with a softer flavor. Martin Lersch writes about Norwegian egg coffee on his blog:
Proteins help the coffee grounds flocculate, allowing them to sink faster to the bottom of the pot (this effect is probably more pronounced when using eggs), and 2) the proteins bind irreversibly to astringent and bitter tasting polyphenols in coffee, forming insoluble complexes that will precipitate. As a consequence, the coffee is clearer and has a milder flavor. The bitterness is hardly discernible, yet the coffee retains enough “body” to avoid feeling too thin!
It’s also not just Norway. This egg-filled delicacy is also served in Sweden. “Swedish egg coffee is dead simple to make, and the result is a non-bitter, surprisingly light and incredibly smooth cup that combines the wonderful flavor of your favorite roast with a reminiscent aftertaste of toasted cheese (trust me, it sounds strange but it works),” according to I Need Coffee’s Swedish Coffee recipe.
Vietnamese egg coffee (Cà Phê Trng), on the other hand, is far from a clearer, milder coffee. It’s basically a Cadbury Creme Egg with a touch of mocha, as seen in the picture above. So, although the Vietnamese coffee recipe below isn’t the healthiest, it’s a delicious way to warm yourself on a chilly day.
If you’re in Hanoi and want to taste the egg coffee mentioned above, go to Cafe Giang, 39 Nguyen Huu Huan Street, Old Quarter. And it was fantastic. Nguyen Van Dao, whose father developed the drink in the mid 1900s while working at Hanoi’s Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel, is now brewing coffee at Cafe Giang. According to a recent article in The Guardian regarding coffee,
“Because milk was rare in Vietnam at the time, whisked egg yolk was substituted. Other Hanoi cafes have tried to replicate the drink, but the crowded location serving the original version remains the city’s most popular egg coffee stop.
I couldn’t agree with you more on where to buy it!
I was given this dish from my host family, not Cafe Giang, and I’ve tried it many times. As stated below, I sometimes add almond extract to the mix for a slightly distinct flavor. They’re both delicious. Everyone gets an egg coffee!
Vietnamese Egg Coffee Recipe with 4 Ingredients
In all of its delectable splendor, Egg Coffee.
Cà Phê Trng (Egg Coffee) Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons coffee powder (Vietnamese) (Vietnamese coffee is available on Amazon here)
- 2 tablespoons condensed sweetened milk
- a pot of boiling water
Directions
- Make a cup of Vietnamese coffee in a tiny cup. (Vietnamese coffee filters may be found here on Amazon.) There’s also a nice collection of pictures describing how to here if you want to see the brew process step by step.)
- Remove the whites from one egg and set aside.
- In a small, deep bowl, whisk together the yolk and sweetened condensed milk until you get a frothy, fluffy mixture like the one seen above. Whisk in a spoonful of the freshly brewed coffee.
- Pour your brewed coffee into a transparent coffee cup (we’re aiming for looks here), then top with the fluffy egg mixture.
- And there you have it: egg coffee.
Vietnamese Egg Coffee: What to Know and Where to Get It
1. A reader, Graham, tested this at home and suggests adding the yolk to the coffee along with the sweet milk and whisking everything together. After then, the foam will climb to the top.
2. If you don’t want to use Vietnamese coffee, Cafe du Monde’s chicory coffee from New Orleans is a good option in the United States. Andrea Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American novelist and chef, says in an interview:
When Vietnamese immigrants arrived in the United States in the mid-1970s, many of them landed in New Orleans. Their coffee was strong and bitter back home, and the chicory at Café du Monde matched that flavor perfectly, so the individuals who began working there got a taste of it and spread the word to the rest of the town. Because it was such a tiny, close-knit group, news quickly spread throughout the nation.
It’s excellent with the chicory mix, according to readers.
Chicory root as a coffee replacement Source of image.
We don’t know who got the brilliant idea of using chicory as a coffee replacement in the past, according to a Gastro Obscura article from 2024, but we do know that coffee brewed with chicory first spread extensively after Napoleon shut off British commerce with most of Europe. During that time, “Napoleon aggressively promoted the use of chicory coffee, believing that by relying on local goods, France and her allies would economically strangle the British.” Chicory survived until the mid-twentieth century, even after trade routes were reopened.
Chicory root has made a return in various forms, and Café du Monde is renowned for its chicory drinks these days. It has a long history in traditional medicine for a variety of applications for the treatment of symptoms linked to minor digestive problems, and it has been dubbed “herbal coffee” by caffeine-free people.
3. A 2015 article in Vice Magazine’s Munchies section about Cafe Giang provides more background on the cafe and mentions that the coffee also contains…cheese. I wanted to put this here since it differs from the recipe above. It’s the first time I’ve heard of it, but I though I’d add it anyhow.
Every day, blenders churn eggs, cheese, condensed milk, sugar, and other secret ingredients at Café Giang. It’s where Hanoi’s cà phê trng, or egg coffee, originated. That implies the egg and cheese will end up in the coffee.
Since 1946, when Tri’s father Nguyen Giang established Café Giang and created the first cup of egg coffee, egg coffee has been a way of life and a source of income for Tri Hoa Nguyen and his family. Because fresh milk was scarce in Vietnam under the French occupation, most Vietnamese lined the bottom of the cup with condensed milk and poured the coffee on top, which is still the way Vietnamese coffee is served today. Nguyen substituted egg for milk since he didn’t have any.
4. Egg coffee is now available in other parts of Vietnam, including HCMC/Saigon.
Egg coffee originated in the north of Vietnam, but owing to its obvious tourist demand and Instagram-clout, it can now be found in numerous coffeeshops across the country. In the few short years after the popularity of egg coffee blossomed online, Ho Chi Minh City today has a plethora of “trng” coffee choices. While it isn’t the Café Giang’s secret recipe, it will keep you going in a hurry.
I’ve had a few reader inquiries regarding if this is a commonly drank beverage in Vietnamese homes. It was definitely not the case throughout my time in Vietnam. Friends in Vietnam thought the fad funny yet tasty, but they did not drink it at home. In the house, the common cà phê sa á (Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk, literally coffee milk ice) was much more common. Here’s how to make it.
Regardless, the current tendency seems to be here to stay, at least for the time being. Where can you get egg coffee in Saigon?
- 3/5 Nguyen Van Thu, District 1 – Np Sài Gn (spacious location, wood tables, beautifully decorated cafe with a lot of different drink options on their extensive menu, including egg coffee).
- 95 Pasteur, District 1 – Loft 2 Café Café (more expensive cafe right in the heart of Q1)
5. Is it possible to get Vietnamese egg coffee in North America?
Brother Joe’s handmade coffee and teahouse in Seattle’s Georgetown, according to Seattle Mag’s 2019 update, has some sweet eggy deliciousness.
New Yorkers, rejoice: as of 2018, Hanoi House offers egg coffee, giving you the opportunity to taste it without having to go so far. “Like so many ancient recipes, it was developed out of necessity,” says Sara Leveen, who co-founded Hanoi House with her husband Ben Lowell. They tasted the coffee in Vietnam and seemed to be just as addicted as I was. It’s now available in American-sized quantities for those “liquid tiramisu” fans in the Tri-State region.
Chef Chi Le of Chi Modern Vietnamese Restaurant in Vancouver has brought Vietnamese-style egg coffee to Western Canada.
Coffee Meringues are a great way to use up those egg whites.
You’ll have some egg whites leftover since the egg coffee recipe only asks for yolks. While there are numerous things you can do with them, reader Holly recommended making meringues, which is what I typically do. So I figured I’d share my recipe as well, which is quick and (literally) sweet.
Vietnamese coffee meringues are made using the following ingredients:
- 2 big, room-temperature egg whites (leave them out for 30 minutes to do this)
- 1 teaspoon coffee powder (Vietnamese)
- half a cup of sugar (granulated or superfine),
- I use Himalayan pink salt since I can’t tolerate iodine.)
Vietnamese coffee meringues instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking pans with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing basin, whip the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy.
- Add the salt and continue to beat for another minute.
- Start with 1 tablespoon of sugar and the Vietnamese coffee powder, then gradually add the remainder of the sugar until soft peaks form and the meringue is firm.
- Pipe them onto the pans if you have a piping bag with a star tip. If not, a teaspoon will suffice: scoop generous tablespoons into the pans.
- Bake until the meringues are dry on the outside, rotating once. While the precise duration varies on your oven, I’ve found that it takes around two hours each time I’ve cooked these. Around 1 hour in, I typically flip the pans around halfway through.
- Allow the meringues to cool for 1-2 hours after they have been made. You may move to a wire rack to cool if you have one. Otherwise, turn off the heat and leave the meringues inside the oven.
Other Egg Coffee Varieties
While I tried the Vietnamese egg coffee recipe on my travels and fell in love with it right away, there are more egg coffee recipes out there.
1. Scandinavian Egg Coffee: as stated in the introduction, there are recipes for both Norwegian and Swedish egg coffee available on the internet. Here’s a recipe for Norwegian food. This coffee arrived to Minnesota through its Swedish immigrant community, according to an Eater article. Here’s how to make Norwegian egg coffee.
And here’s a video of the recipe:
2. Saveur has a recipe for kopi telur (egg coffee from Padang, West Indonesia).
(See this Parts Unknown article for an illustrated tour of Padang’s fantastic culinary choices.) It also contains telor dadar padang, a spicy rich omelet with spring onions and red chilies, which is another fantastic egg dish.)
3. Sri Lankan Egg Coffee (): here’s a recipe from My Tamil Kitchen, with an added twist: the Sri Lankan version includes brandy.
More about Vietnam and its Cuisine
Tim Doling’s site Historic Vietnam has interesting history and pictures from Vietnam, both past and present.
If you’re planning a trip to Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon, check out my Saigon Food Guide, which covers everything from visas to where to find the finest bars, smoothies, and foreign cuisine, as well as which cab companies to use while you’re there.
Books on Vietnamese Cuisine
- Andrea Nguyen’s book, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. Andrea also has a booklet on pho (!!) that was recently released, called The Pho Cookbook: Easy to Adventurous Recipes for Vietnam’s Favorite Soup and Noodles, for people who can eat bread (i.e. not celiacs like me).
- Cameron Stauch’s Vegetarian Vietnam (Written by the former chef to the Governor General of Canada, this is one of the few Vietnamese vegetarian cookbooks available.) Exceptionally comprehensive, with stunning photos.)
- Mai Pham’s book, Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table: Recipes and Reminiscences from Vietnam’s Best Market Kitchens, Street Cafes, and Home Cooks, is a collection of recipes and reminiscences from Vietnam’s best market kitchens, street cafes, and home cooks (Also titled: New Flavours of the Vietnamese Table in the UK)
- Luke Nguyen’s book The Food of Vietnam.
- Stanley Karnow’s Vietnam: A History (It’s a long read, but it’s well worth it.)
- Andrew X. Pham’s Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam (Kindle version here).
- John Balaban & Nguyen Qui Duc’s Vietnam: A Traveler’s Literary Companion
Vietnamese Food Maps
Please view my hand-drawn, one-of-a-kind Vietnamese cuisine maps for those of you who enjoyed your time in Vietnam and want to remember it at home with something a little more concrete. In the Legal Nomads shop, they’re available on t-shirts and posters.
Vietnam Food Map, also available as a white poster.
Did you know that in Vietnam it’s considered a sign of good luck to eat a fried egg with your coffee? It turns out that the traditional Vietnamese egg coffee recipe is simple to make and it’s just as popular as ever, especially with tourists.. Read more about vietnamese egg coffee salmonella and let us know what you think.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do you make egg coffee?
You boil an egg in coffee.
Is Vietnamese egg coffee safe to drink?
Vietnamese egg coffee is a traditional drink made from boiled eggs, sugar, and coffee. It is safe to drink as long as there are no cracks in the eggs or any other signs of spoilage.
Do you Stir Vietnamese egg coffee?
No, I do not stir Vietnamese egg coffee.
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- egg coffee swedish
