Published:  10:03 Thursday - July 14, 2016

Egg coffee is an innovative drink in Hanoi and famous around the world. The unique combination between the coffee and egg, the bitter and greasy taste makes up the perfect taste.

Back in the 1940’s Mr. Nguyen Giang, a resident of Hanoi, Vietnam, was working as a barman at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi Hotel. The story goes that, one night, Mr. Giang ran out of milk to serve with the coffee. Instead he used a concoction of egg yolks and condensed milk to make, what is known today in Vietnam as, Egg Coffee or "ca phe trung".

Such a success was Ca phe trung that Mr. Giang opened a cafe and egg coffee has been a part of Hanoi ever since.

An egg coffee is traditionally prepared with egg yolks, sugar, condensed milk and Robusta coffee. The drink is made by beating egg yolks with sugar and coffee, then extracting the coffee into the half of the cup, followed by a similar amount of egg cream, which is prepared by heating and beating the yolks.

A cup of egg coffee is usually a small and short cup, fit to a hand palm. Thus, you can just try an enough amount to taste the deliciousness but still make you have a fond remembrance and desire for more. The cup is served inside a bowl of hot water to retain its temperature. The marriage of the egg’s rich taste and aromatic coffee wafting through the air makes up specific flavor. To drink egg coffee, people should slowly stir bobbed froth of whipped egg with the coffee below. Sweet and tasty of egg and milk are in harmony with bitterness of coffee and leaves behind the mesmerizing scent.

Egg coffee has appeared for a long time, but it is still a hot trend of cuisine in Hanoi till now. It is also a beautiful cultural feature of Hanoi. The recipe for egg coffee is very simple and it was published very soon. However the number of coffee shops making egg coffee successfully is very small.