Recipe: Homemade Vietnamese Egg Coffee

The next best solution to finding the infamous Vietnamese egg coffee (cà phê trứng) at a restaurant around town is to make one at home for yourself. It’s easy to make a delicious cup of Vietnamese egg coffee, which tastes like the Italian dessert tiramisu. The heavenly flavour can take us on a mini holiday to two countries at once during COVID-19 quarantine!

Ingredients:

3 tsp Vietnamese ground coffee (or 1–2 shots espresso of your choice)*
1 egg yolk (for food safety, use a pasteurised egg – see instructions below for pasteurising eggs at home if needed)
2–3 tbsp condensed milk

*When Vietnamese coffee beans are not easily found, a great substitute is New Orleans Café du Monde coffee. Actually, Café Du Monde coffee is known as American Vietnamese coffee. New Orleans in the state of Louisiana has a deep French influence, and its cuisine still carries the French roots till this day. Café Du Monde is a blend of Robusta coffee and roasted, ground chicory root, which adds a chocolate-like flavour.

Method:

Pour hot water into a Vietnamese coffee strainer (phin) to brew the coffee.
In a small bowl, whip together the egg yolk and condensed milk until the mixture is fluffy and soft peaks form.
Pour the egg mixture onto your coffee. Enjoy!

How to pasteurise eggs at home

Pasteurisation doesn’t cook the eggs. The process just removes bacteria to make the eggs safer in recipes that call for raw eggs.

Submerge room-temperature eggs in a deep pot of water. The water should be about 1 inch (2–3cm) above the eggs.
Use low to medium heat to bring the water and eggs to 60°C. Use a food thermometer to gauge the water temperature. To make sure you are taking the temperature of the water and not the pot, do not let the thermometer touch the bottom of the pot.
Let the eggs sit in 60°C water for 3 minutes.
Remove the eggs and submerge them in ice water or use cold, running water to cool the eggs.
The pasteurised eggs can be used immediately or else store them in the fridge.