Vietnam: The Coffee!

I am a big fan of coffee. I love the stuff; hot and black in the morning and iced and creamy in the afternoon. Almost every country we have visited in SE Asia has had a decent coffee culture and many coffee shops, but Vietnam’s is the most robust, and the most Robusta!

I mentioned in my post about Hoi An that in Vietnam, they use the stronger, more bitter and more caffeinated Robusta coffee bean as opposed to western countries which most often use Arabica for it’s smoother, mellow flavor. I really like both. Arabica for its complex and nuanced flavors like notes of fruit, flower, chocolate, or caramel etc. I like Robusta for it’s strong, punch you in the face coffee flavor. Regardless of whichever bean I am drinking, I like it strong. Robusta is really great in iced coffee drinks as the strong, bitter coffee balances out the sweet, condensed milk that is often added in Vietnam.

My first ca phe sua aka “Saigon white coffee”. This was at our beach cafe in Da Nang, not a coffee shop. It was a bit too sweet but still tasty

Vietnam is famous for several coffee drinks. In addition to the ca phe sua (coffee with condensed milk), there is also ca phe moi (salt coffee), ca phe trung (egg coffee), ca phe dua (coconut coffee), and my old favorite, ca phe den (black coffee). All traditional coffee drinks start with a ca phe phin, which is a single-cup brewing method of slow drip coffee using a metal filter. They do sell family-sized phins that allow for making more than one cup at a time.

We learned all about Vietnamese coffee in a coffee making class that we took in Saigon. It was so fun! We were in a large group from China, Taiwan, and Singapore. We teamed with a group of young Chinese college gals on holiday.

We each first made a cup of coffee using our phin (ca phe phin), carefully weighing out the coffee and measuring the water. We then set that aside as we would be using it in all four types of coffee we were to make: coffee with condensed milk, coconut coffee, egg coffee, and salt coffee. The coffee is so strong that we would only need a little for each coffee drink.

The two most fun coffees to make, which required us to work with our team, was the egg coffee and salt coffee. Up until this point, I hadn’t tried the egg coffee, so I was extra excited about that. To make it, we started with seven egg yolks(!?!), then added a teaspoon of lime juice for each yolk. The lime juice helps neutralize the raw, egg-y smell and cuts through the sweetness of the condensed milk. We also added honey to the egg and lime along with sweetened condensed milk, then blended for several minutes. We took turns using the hand mixer as the continuous up/down motion needed in the thickening mixture was quite an arm work out.

We mixed until nice and creamy, then spooned the mixture over our strong, Robusta coffee. Next, we got to use a mini blow torch (to brown the stop just a smidge)!

Egg coffee was first invented during the 1940’s in Hanoi by a bartender named Nguyen Van Giang. During the first Indochina War, fresh milk became expensive and scarce. To replace it’s creamy texture in coffee, Giang whipped eggs, sugar, and condensed milk together then spooned it over strong, Robusta coffee. The substitution was so well liked, it became a permanent fixture in Hanoi and Vietnam at large.

Next up was my favorite, salt coffee! I had many salt coffees during our time in Vietnam but this was the only time I got to make one. It won’t be my last I can tell you that much. As part of the coffee making class, we received a little recipe book with all the coffees we made plus more!

We took the last of our black coffee and poured it in a glass with with ice, then added, you guessed it, sweetened condensed milk. Then we took a soy-based nondairy creamer (I was surprised by this as I expected dairy cream) and added salt, just regular old table salt, and whipped with a handheld mixer for several minutes until it turned into a thick, creamy foam. Then we poured that on top of the coffee and condensed milk and dusted it with a bit of coco powder. We were told to place our straws at the bottom of the glass, and move up, sipping though the different layers, for the first drink. Then you mix it all together and enjoy.

And enjoy we did. Phil and I were the only people in the entire class that drank all of each of the four coffees we made. Needless to say, we were feeling very energetic after the class.

Phil captured me with my coffee, and add to that the pics I took of the coffee itself, and I wound up with a lot of coffee themed pics. I have included them below for your viewing pleasure.