# Vietnamese Egg Coffee (Cà Phê Trứng)

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/vietnamese-egg-coffee/
Last updated: 2026-10-21

> Vietnamese egg coffee, cà phê trứng, is strong coffee topped with egg yolks whipped with sweetened condensed milk and sugar into a thick, sweet cream. It's credited to Nguyen Van Giang, a bartender at Hanoi's Metropole hotel, who used egg in place of scarce milk in 1946 and went on to found Café Giảng.

## At a glance

- Chapter: Sweet and spiced
- Served: Hot or cold
- Brewing method: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/vietnamese-phin/
- Origin: Vietnam, Hanoi, 1946
- Glass: Small cup or glass, often set in a bowl of hot water
- Also known as: cà phê trứng, ca phe trung, egg coffee

## Ingredients

- 4 oz (about 120 ml) strong coffee (phin or espresso)
- 2 egg yolks (British Lion eggs in the UK)
- 3 tbsp to ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla (optional)

## Steps

1. **Brew the coffee**: Brew about 4 oz of strong coffee with a phin, or use an espresso machine or a French press.
2. **Whip the egg cream**: Whip the egg yolks, condensed milk and sugar (and vanilla, if using) with a whisk or electric mixer for about 5 minutes, until thick and frothy.
3. **Test it**: Drop a little of the cream onto a glass of water. If it floats, it's ready.
4. **Pour over the coffee**: Spoon or pour the egg cream gently over the hot coffee so it sits on top.
5. **Finish and serve**: Dust with cocoa if you like, and serve with a spoon.

**Vietnamese egg coffee**, *cà phê trứng*, is strong coffee crowned with a thick, sweet cream of **egg yolks whipped with sweetened condensed milk** and sugar. It's a speciality of **Hanoi**, where it was invented in **1946** as a way round a shortage of milk, and it sits somewhere between a drink and a dessert: "Should I eat or drink?" one visitor asked VietNamNet's writer. Here's how to make it at home, how to make it safer, and the family story behind it.

## The short version

- **Strong coffee** from a [Vietnamese phin](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/vietnamese-phin/), under a **whipped egg-yolk cream**.
- **Egg yolks, condensed milk and sugar**, whipped for about 5 minutes.
- **Invented in 1946** by Nguyen Van Giang, a bartender at Hanoi's Metropole hotel.
- **Café Giảng**, the family café, still serves it in Hanoi.
- **Tastes like tiramisu**, says chef Nini Nguyen, not like egg.



## What's in Vietnamese egg coffee?

Two recipes, both for one drink, show how much the sweetness can vary:

| | Imbibe (chef Nini Nguyen) | VICE |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Coffee | 4 oz strong coffee or espresso; she suggests Café du Monde, through a phin | 4 oz strong coffee, ideally from a phin |
| Egg yolks | 2 large | 2 large |
| Sweetened condensed milk | 3 tbsp | ¼ cup (80 g) |
| Sugar | 1 tsp | 1 tsp |
| Extra | ¼ tsp vanilla; cocoa to dust | None |
| Whip | 5 minutes, until frothy | About 5 minutes, until thick and frothy |

The original is richer still. According to Mental Floss, Café Giảng lists its ingredients as chicken egg yolk, Vietnamese coffee powder, sweetened condensed milk, butter and even cheese; VietNamNet adds that Giang's recipe included "some secret ingredients" passed down to his children.

## How do you make egg coffee at home?

1. **Brew strong coffee.** A phin is traditional: Imbibe's note uses 2 tbsp of ground coffee and 5 oz of boiling water, dripped into the cup. VICE says a French press or espresso machine will do.
2. **Whip the cream.** Beat the yolks, condensed milk and sugar for about **5 minutes** with a whisk or electric mixer.
3. **Test it.** Imbibe's tip: drop a little onto water. If it floats, it's ready.
4. **Assemble.** Pour the cream gently over the hot coffee. VICE pours half the coffee into the glass, adds the cream, then pours the rest of the coffee over so it soaks through.
5. **Keep it hot.** VICE stands the glass in a bowl of just-boiled water for 3 minutes to help cook the egg; VietNamNet saw Hanoi cafés serve it in a bowl of hot water to keep it warm.

The egg in egg coffee is barely cooked. In the UK, the Food Standards Agency's advice, reported by IFST, is that even infants, children, pregnant women and elderly people can safely eat raw or lightly cooked hen eggs produced under the **British Lion** Code of Practice; non-Lion, non-hen and imported eggs should be cooked thoroughly for those groups, and the advice doesn't cover people who are severely immunocompromised.

*General guidance only, not food-safety or medical advice. Check the egg advice where you live.*

## Where does egg coffee come from?

**Hanoi, 1946.** During the First Indochina War, Mental Floss explains, milk was hard to come by, so **Nguyen Van Giang**, a bartender at the **Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel**, developed a coffee using whisked egg instead of dairy. The sources agree on the man and the year, but tell the rest slightly differently:

| Question | Mental Floss | VietNamNet |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Why egg | Milk was scarce in the First Indochina War | Fresh milk was often short in the 1940s |
| The café | Its success led him to leave the hotel and open Café Giảng | He left the hotel and created Café Giảng in 1946 |
| Who runs it now | His son, Tri Hoa | His youngest son, Nguyen Tri Hoa |

Mental Floss adds that the recipe evolved to make the egg taste more subtle, that blenders made the whisking easier, and that by the 1980s the drink was more popular than ever. VietNamNet says Café Giảng sits in a small alley at **39 Nguyen Huu Huan Street**, opened a franchise in **Yokohama** in 2018, and now also serves egg coffee with rum, chocolate, cinnamon or green tea. Giang's daughter Bich opened **Café Đinh** at 13 Dinh Tien Hoang Street, overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake.

## Egg coffee vs other sweet coffees

- **[Vietnamese iced coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/vietnamese-iced-coffee/):** phin coffee with condensed milk over ice.
- **[Einspänner](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/einspanner/):** Vienna's coffee under a cap of whipped cream.
- **[Café cubano](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/cafe-cubano/):** coffee whipped with sugar into a sweet foam.
- **[Affogato](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/affogato/):** espresso poured over vanilla ice cream.

Explore every drink in the [sweet and spiced chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/sweet-and-spiced/).

## FAQs

### Does Vietnamese egg coffee taste of egg?

Not much. A visitor quoted by VietNamNet was surprised it had no "fishy egg smell", and Mental Floss says the recipe evolved over time to make the egg flavour more subtle. Chef Nini Nguyen says it tastes "amazingly like tiramisu".

### Who invented egg coffee?

Nguyen Van Giang, a bartender at Hanoi's Metropole hotel, according to Mental Floss and VietNamNet. During the First Indochina War milk was scarce, so in 1946 he used whisked egg in its place. He later left the hotel and founded his own café, Café Giảng.

### Is it safe to eat raw egg yolk in coffee?

In the UK, the Food Standards Agency says even vulnerable groups can eat raw or lightly cooked hen eggs with the British Lion mark, as IFST reports; other eggs should be cooked thoroughly for them, and the advice excludes people who are severely immunocompromised. VICE's recipe also stands the glass in just-boiled water for 3 minutes to help cook the egg.

### Can you make egg coffee without a phin?

Yes. VICE's recipe says to use about 4 oz of strong coffee from a French press or an espresso machine if you don't have a phin.

### Where can you drink egg coffee in Hanoi?

VietNamNet names Café Giảng, now run by the founder's youngest son, in an alley at 39 Nguyen Huu Huan Street, and Café Đinh at 13 Dinh Tien Hoang Street, opened by his daughter and overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake.

## Sources

- [A brief history of Vietnamese egg coffee](https://www.mentalfloss.com/food/coffee/vietnamese-egg-coffee-origin)
- [Wake up and smell the egg coffee](https://vietnamnet.vn/en/travel/wake-up-and-smell-the-egg-coffee-647728.html)
- [Vietnamese egg coffee (cà phê trứng)](https://imbibemagazine.com/recipe/vietnamese-egg-coffee-ca-phe-trung/)
- [New advice on eating runny eggs: FSA](https://www.ifst.org/node/7180)
- [Cà phê trứng (Vietnamese egg coffee) recipe](https://vice.com/en/article/ca-phe-trung-vietnamese-egg-coffee-recipe)