Hanoian Food
HOW TO MAKE VIETNAMESE COFFEE
Vietnamese coffee (cà phê đá literally translates into ice coffee) is one of the most popular drinks in Vietnam. The people of Vietnam drink coffee all-day round at cafes, on the street sitting on little stools, in their homes and at their workplaces.
The first variety of coffee in Vietnam was brought in from Arabica in 1857 but it is a very delicate variety. The Vietnamese had depended on it for years before beginning production, and from the nineties, the North, South and Centre areas of Vietnam are core producers of coffee, making Vietnam the 9th biggest producer in the world and the biggest producer of Robusta coffee in Southeast Asia.
There are different variations from Cà Phê Đen, which is the equivalent of black coffee having sugar just to taste, Cà Phê Đen đá, coffee with a few ice-cubes added to it and Cà phê sữa đá, cold macchiato coffee.
It is understood that sweet condensed milk is a key ingredient in preparing this drink but sometimes Vietnamese drinkers also add yogurt and eggs to their coffee to elevate the coffee experience.
It might sound weird but the egg coffee is the most popular variation of the Vietnamese coffee. It was invented by Nguyen Giang during the French War. There was a shortage of fresh milk and the Vietnamese substituted it for condensed milk in their coffee but Nguyen Giang whisked in egg instead. At first it was not nice because the egg flavour was too much but with time, the blenders’ invention and practice he found the right consistency and the drink became the trend from the 1980’s. His son, Tri Hoa Nguyen today owns the most popular egg-coffee-serving café in Vietnam, Café Giang where his coffee has no egg flavour at all having the perfect blend which he does using his secret ingredients and recipe. Tourists from all over Vietnam flock to Café Giang to try out the coffee and it has become a tradition; you can hear the gales of laughter and conversation down in the café where Tri converses with his customers telling them his philosophy of the balance, persistence and gratitude that can be learned from making and drinking Vietnamese coffee.
INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons Vietnamese ground coffee
1-3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
1 cup of water
5 to 6 ice cubes
STEP 1
Use Vietnamese coffee filters for your brewing. They come in different sizes with your choice, depending on your brewing need. You could also use a French coffee press, the drip coffee method, or even a coffee machine.
STEP 2
Take out 3 tablespoons of ground coffee and spread it evenly using the filter.
STEP 3
Make sure you do not compress the coffee or shake the filters so the coffee grounds will not drop into the holes of the coffee filter and plug up the holes. This would make the coffee take forever to drip and the grounds may completely clog the filter. So try to gently place the metal filter on top of the coffee.
STEP 4
Pour the condensed milk into a mug or heatproof glass to your heart’s content because the sweetness depends on you.
STEP 5
Use 6 ounces of near boiling water or 8 ounces, if you don’t want your coffee too strong.
STEP 6
Place the filter over the glass and pour two tablespoons of hot water. Then wait for 5 seconds so the coffee will bloom. This happens when the water releases CO2 from the coffee and the grounds expand.
STEP 7
To compress the bloomed coffee, press on the filter gently. This will help slow down the drip rate and also make for a more flavourful coffee.
STEP 8
Slowly pour the rest of the water into the filter, and the coffee will start to drip into your cup. Following these steps will allow you to achieve the optimum brewing time.
STEP 9
Wait about 5 minutes so the coffee can finish drip brewing!
STEP 10
Remove the filter, stir the coffee to mix in the condensed milk and enjoy.