Egg coffee () is a Vietnamese drink traditionally prepared with egg yolks, sugar, condensed milk and robusta coffee. The drink is made by filtering coffee bean in a phin, and beating egg yolks with sugar and condensed milk over heat to get egg-cream component.
The drink is served in cafes throughout Vietnam, originating in Hanoi. The Giang Café () in Hanoi is known for serving the drink, which it makes with egg yolk, coffee powder, condensed milk, and, optionally, cheese. The cup is sometimes served inside a bowl of hot water or set upon a small candle to retain its temperature. The son of the café's founder Nguyen Giang claims that his father developed the recipe for the drink when milk was scarce in Vietnam in the late 1940s, replacing milk with egg yolk.
Ingredients for making egg coffee include fresh chicken eggs, sugar, condensed milk, and coffee. The egg yolks are whipped with milk and sugar and then boiled. Hot or iced coffee is poured into the beaten eggs, which will form an aromatic foam. A teaspoon is provided in order to eat the foam before drinking the coffee at the bottom. Egg coffee is served in a small cup. To keep the drink warm, the waiter puts a cup of coffee in a bowl of warm water. After being poured over the egg cream the coffee at the bottom of the cup acquires a richer taste.
In the past, eggs were hand beaten which takes time for the foam to be whippped. With the availability of electric mixers, the coffee can be combined together with cocoa, white beans and matcha (tea powder) to create more variants. It can be served either hot or iced.
There are other, different, recipes for coffee containing egg.