Egg Coffee (cà phê trứng) is a Vietnamese drink that is served throughout cafes in Hanoi. It’s made using egg yolk, sugar and coffee, although condensed milk is often included too. It sounded weird, and so of course, we had to try it.
The egg coffee, when served (we got ours from the Hanoi Social Club* – which also does really great coconut bo bia) was three quarters yellow creaminess with a dark coffee layer at the bottom.
These are the stages that everyone seems to go through when drinking Vietnamese egg coffee for the first time:
01// UNCERTAINTY. The sudden realisation that you’re about to eat EGG. And COFFEE. You give it a stir and the coffee sits on the bottom and the creamy egg foam sits on the top. How do you do this? Do you spoon? Or do you slurp?
02// NO GOING BACK. This is it, you’ve had a bit of a stir and started off with the spoon (good choice) and it’s now in your mouth. YOU HAVE EGG AND COFFEE IN YOUR MOUTH!
03// JURY’S OUT. You let your tastebuds explore as you work out what’s going on with the taste. Will it be a thumbs up or a thumbs down?
04// JUDGEMENT. You love it! It tastes like a pudding, like a floaty, liquid-y tiramisu. It’s like coffee custard, or gooey floaty marshmallow. Yay.
According to locals, egg coffee has been a staple drink since the 1950’s, with one cafe’s founder claiming that his father developed the drink when he was looking for a milk replacement, when milk was scarce.
What’s your Vietnamese Coffee Face look like? Tag me in it on Instagram @wabbitpie
*Hanoi Social Club is a quirky little cafe, over several floors, with decent internet and a wide variety of food. The food is Western and more expensive, incorporating on trend ingredients such as quinoa. 6 Ngõ Hội Vũ, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
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