Hanoi Egg Coffee (Ca Phe Trung)

Walking in the street in Vietnam, visitors will quickly realize that local people love coffee. Seeing people sipping and sitting on low plastic stools on the sidewalk, plus those who prefer the high-end cafes popping up around Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the need for caffeine is inescapable. Everyone in Hanoi is proud of their unique coffee in the world “Ca Phe Trung” or Egg Coffee which a creamy soft, meringue-like egg white foam is perched on dense Vietnamese coffee.

1. Origins of Hanoi Egg Coffee

Coffee was first introduced to Vietnam in the 19th century by the French colonists. Vietnam increasingly becomes a strong coffee exporter with many plantations in the central highlands. The birth of Egg Coffee started when there was a shortage of fresh milk in the country in 1946. At that time, Mr. Nguyen Van Giang was working as a bartender at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel when invented the recipe to whisk egg yolk as a substitute of milk. Fortunately, the result was decadent and delicious, so he decided to open Cafe Giang, the original Vietnamese Egg Coffee in order to introduce this signature drink. Since then, it became one of the most famous coffee in Hanoi.

Origins of Hanoi Egg Coffee

Generations of Hanoians have come to know and love his little family-run coffee shop. Other baristas in town attempted to copy his creation, but nobody did it quite like him. Mr. Giang’s children carried on his brand and now owns three cafes in Hanoi that serve the original Egg Coffee. Year by year, sitting on a tiny plastic chair on the pavement or narrow shop, sipping and chilling with a cup of egg coffee becomes an image of Hanoi and Vietnam coffee culture. A thing that you definitely have to try.

2. Ingredients of Egg Coffee

Ingredients of Egg Coffee

Egg coffee? To a normal Western, the phrase may trigger a strange, possibly unpleasant image. No, Egg Coffee is rather the famous thick, strong and dark Vietnamese brewed coffee topped with a sweet, light and airy foam of egg yolk and condensed milk. To make a perfect Egg Coffee, a bartender needs coffee with sugar, sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks go together. The egg yolks are creamy soft, meringue-like perching on the dense Vietnamese signature coffee. Together, the taste is surprisingly good if not to say amazing somehow it comes with the taste of pleasure.

3. Types of Egg Coffee

Vietnamese egg coffee has been become popular since its initial introduction to consumers, thus, many versions of the original recipe have been created and replicated in various forms. Egg coffee can be ordered hot or cold and both of them have different experience of paralleled savory. The cold coffee comes in a cup loaded with ice and similar to coffee ice cream or runny tiramisu. The hot version comes resting in a small dish of hot water to maintain its temperature. The strong coffee taste at the bottom of the cup seeps through the egg, the yellow layer on top which is quite thick and sweet, create an amazing taste.

There are several types of egg coffee

In addition to traditional Egg Coffee, in Giang Café, there is also Egg Cacao. It is made from whipped egg, on top of the egg is a layer of cocoa powder. For those who are sweet lovers, they will definitely prefer Egg Cocoa to Egg Coffee. Not only Egg Cocoa, Giang Café has also created so many unique beverages such as Egg Matcha, Egg Chocolate, Egg Beer, etc. Don’t be hesitate by the weird name, go for the one that sounds the most attractive to you to discover that it can be tasty or not, but exciting for sure.

4. Places to try Egg Coffee

Café Giang – A famous coffee shop in Hanoi

If you are ever in Hanoi and want the real deal, Vietnam Travel help you to list out 5 places offering Egg Coffee to check out.

– Café Giang: 109 Yen Phu Street, Hanoi. 39 Nguyen Huu Huan Street, Hanoi.
– Dinh Café: 13 Dinh Tien Hoang Street, Hanoi
– Oriberry Coffee: 25 Xuan Dieu Street, Hanoi or 36 Au Trieu Street, Hanoi.
– Leu Coffee: 2nd Floor, 1 Ta Hien Street, Hanoi
– Loading T: 2nd Floor, 2 Chan Cam Street, Hanoi

As coffee culture remains an adhesive element of Vietnamese culture and society, the industry is seeing massive growth, and as Egg Coffee continues to garner international attention, more and more café will have a go at whipping up their own version. Coming to Hanoi, do not miss a chance to taste Egg Coffee to blend yourself to the taste of heaven.