Vietnamese Egg Coffee Recipe (Cà Phê Trứng)

A Hanoi coffee speciality

What is Vietnamese egg coffee?

Vietnamese egg coffee, or cà phê trứng, brings together a strong coffee brew and a soft, whipped topping made with egg yolk and sweetened condensed milk. The cream sits above the coffee in a small glass, giving each spoonful a contrast between the sweet, rich topping and the darker drink beneath.

It is not simply coffee with a raw egg stirred into it. The yolk is separated and whipped with the sweetener into a thick cream, then served over the brewed coffee. Recipes differ between cafés and home kitchens, so there is no reason to treat one modern ingredient ratio as the single original formula.

The drink is strongly associated with Hanoi. It is now found in other parts of Vietnam too, which is how a Hanoi speciality can turn up during an ordinary café stop in Da Nang.

Where the drink began

The Hanoi story behind cà phê trứng

Vietnamese egg coffee is credited to Nguyễn Văn Giảng, who worked as a bartender at Hanoi’s Metropole Hotel. Vietnam Tourism dates the drink to 1946 and describes egg yolk as an alternative at a time when milk was expensive and difficult to obtain. The whipped yolk provided a rich topping for filtered coffee.

The drink’s early creation and the later history of Café Giảng are related, but they are not the same date. The MICHELIN Guide describes Giảng opening his Old Quarter café in the 1960s, after the drink had been developed at the Metropole. That distinction is worth keeping: 1946 is commonly cited for the creation of egg coffee, not the opening date of the later café.

Over time, cà phê trứng became one of Hanoi’s recognisable coffee specialities. It also travelled beyond the capital, with cafés elsewhere in Vietnam making their own versions. For a closer look at the drink’s history, see Vietnam Tourism’s account of egg coffee and the MICHELIN Guide’s look at the Hanoi tradition.

A family café moment in central Vietnam

Egg coffee on a café table in Da Nang

This photograph captures Natalia with an egg coffee while Victor has a strawberry smoothie. It is a small family scene from a café in Da Nang, and a reminder that a coffee stop can mean something different to each person sitting around the table.

Da Nang is not the drink’s birthplace, but egg coffee is no longer confined to Hanoi. Finding it in another Vietnamese city is part of the way coffee traditions move through the country, with each café having its own way of preparing and serving a familiar drink.

What gives egg coffee its distinctive texture?

The contrast is the whole point. The coffee needs enough strength to stand up to a sweet, rich topping. Vietnamese Robusta is a traditional choice, and a metal phin filter produces a concentrated brew in a small glass. The whipped yolk and condensed milk form a soft cap that can be spooned first or stirred into the coffee, depending on how you like to drink it.

The foam should be thick enough to sit above the coffee rather than immediately disappearing into it. If the yolks are under-whipped, the topping may feel loose; if the coffee is weak, the sweetness can dominate. The quantities in the recipe card below preserve the existing MPT recipe. Coffee grind, phin size and the way the filter is packed can affect the final strength and drip time.

What you need

Ingredients for Vietnamese egg coffee

The existing MPT version makes one small serving using two egg yolks, condensed milk and strong Vietnamese coffee. Use pasteurized egg yolks because the topping is not cooked through. The salt is optional; it is included as a small flavour adjustment, not a defining ingredient of every traditional recipe.

Equipment

• A Vietnamese metal phin filter and a cup or heatproof glass to brew into.
• A small bowl and whisk, or an electric hand mixer, for the egg cream.
• A small heatproof serving glass.
• A shallow bowl for hot water if you want to keep the finished coffee warm.

The preparation

How to make Vietnamese egg coffee

1. Whip the egg cream

Separate the pasteurized yolks from the whites. Put the yolks in a clean bowl with the condensed milk and optional pinch of salt. Whisk until the mixture becomes lighter in colour, thick and able to fall from the whisk in a ribbon. The original method allows about five minutes of hand-whisking, although the time will vary with the whisk and the temperature of the ingredients.

2. Brew strong coffee in the phin

Add the medium-fine Robusta grounds to the phin and level them gently. Wet the coffee with a little of the hot water and allow it to bloom briefly. Add the remaining water, fit the press in place and let the coffee drip into a small heatproof glass. A phin takes patience; avoid pressing the coffee bed too tightly, as that can slow the drip.

3. Spoon the cream over the coffee

Once the coffee has finished dripping, gently spoon the whipped egg cream over the hot coffee. Serve straight away. The cream should sit as a distinct layer above the darker brew, although it will soften as the glass stands.

For the hot-water serving style described by Vietnam Tourism, place the small glass inside a wider bowl containing hot water. Keep the water below the rim of the serving glass and handle the bowl carefully.

How Vietnamese coffee is served

Hot egg coffee is often presented in a small glass resting in a bowl of hot water to help retain its warmth. Vietnam Tourism also notes that cold versions are served in larger cups. The method and presentation can vary between cafés, so the warm-water bowl is a useful serving tradition to recognise rather than a rule that every shop follows.

The tea in this photograph is shown alongside coffee, a detail worth noticing when thinking about the wider café experience. We have kept the caption specific to the image rather than suggesting every coffee is served in exactly the same way.

Egg safety: what to know before making it

The egg topping in this recipe is whipped, not cooked through. That means this is a raw or lightly handled egg preparation, not a fully cooked egg dish. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises using pasteurized shell eggs or pasteurized egg products in recipes where eggs are served raw or undercooked. Read the FDA’s egg-safety guidance before preparing it.

USDA guidance notes that pasteurized egg products can be used in uncooked foods, but are best used in cooked products, especially for infants and young children, pregnant women, older adults and people with weakened immune systems. For anyone in a higher-risk group, the cautious option is to avoid this uncooked topping or use a separately developed and tested fully cooked alternative. See USDA FSIS guidance on egg products in uncooked foods.

Keep eggs refrigerated according to the package instructions, wash hands and utensils after handling raw eggs, and prepare the cream immediately before serving. Pasteurization reduces risk; it does not make this recipe equivalent to a fully cooked egg preparation.

Egg coffee and other Vietnamese coffee drinks

Egg coffee is one part of a much wider Vietnamese coffee culture. Cà phê sữa đá combines strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk and ice, while coconut coffee brings coffee together with a coconut-based topping or blended mixture. They are different drinks, even when they share the same café menu.

Our photograph of a coconut coffee in a takeaway cup belongs to that wider coffee story, not to the egg coffee recipe itself.

Explore the separate cà phê sữa đá recipe, our Vietnamese coconut coffee recipe and the broader Vietnamese coffee guide.

A few details that make the method easier

Use strong coffee

The whipped topping is sweet and rich, so a concentrated coffee gives the glass balance. A phin filter and Vietnamese Robusta are the traditional route. If using another brewing method, aim for a small amount of strong coffee rather than a large, diluted cup.

Whip until the cream holds its shape

Do not stop while the yolk and condensed milk still look thin and separate. The mixture should become paler and thicker. The exact time depends on the equipment, so use the texture cue rather than treating five minutes as a guaranteed result.

Serve promptly

Once the cream is spooned over the coffee, serve it while the drink is hot and the layers are distinct. The warm-water bowl can help maintain the temperature, but it does not cook the egg topping.