Taste of Vietnam: The Perfect Cup
Sweetened Vietnamese Coffee - Brandon Nguyen
Vietnamese cuisine brings me back to the childhood days, where my grandmother would prepare special dishes in her kitchen. In a world where the food of Chinese, Japanese, Americans, Italians, French, and Mexicans dominate, traditional Vietnamese food is often overlooked. From beef phở to crispy spring rolls, executive chef, Helene An, and daughter Jacqueline An share many recipes directly from their Vietnamese kitchen in Ăn: To Eat
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| Ground coffee in a phin filter. |
For novices, cooking can be quite a challenge. Having little to no experience in the kitchen, I decided to start simple with sweetened Vietnamese coffee, or cà phê sữa. According to Helene and Jacqueline An, "Vietnam is second only to Brazil in coffee exports, but surprisingly, the rich flavors of Vietnamese coffee are relatively unknown outside the realm of coffee connoisseurs" (An, Helene & Jacqueline An 269). What makes Vietnamese coffee unique? Unlike any other coffee, Vietnamese coffee is bitter with just a touch of sweetness. A small word of warning, this coffee is extremely strong. I remembered drinking sweetened Vietnamese coffee one day in the afternoon and not being able to go to sleep!
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| The coffee is ready to be served! |
For the coffee, a special metal drip filter (top) called a phin is used. If you learn to master the phin, everything else is simple. Though I am embarrassed to admit, it took me two attempts to make the perfect cup. Despite the fact that it took second effort, the ingredients are simple. We pour hot water over the ground coffee in the phin. The water drips into a cup with about two tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk. A lid is placed over the filter to retain the water's heat (right). This takes approximately four minutes. I learned it the hard way that by rereading the instructions slowly and carefully I was less vulnerable to mistakes.
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| Typical Vietnamese breakfast. |
In the end, I brewed more coffee than my family could even drink. In fact, it was enough for the entire neighborhood! Creating this recipe has immediately transported me back to my childhood days again. It has brought my grandmother back in the kitchen and most prominently, revived all the great memories I had with her. If you could make any Vietnamese drink or dish, what would it be and why?
Resources:
An, Helene, and Jacqueline An. Ăn: to Eat: Recipes and Stories from a Vietnamese Family Kitchen. Running Press, 2016.Resources:
Hi Brandon! I really liked that you explained the nostalgia you felt when making Vietnamese coffee. If I were to make any Vietnamese dish, I would try to make bánh mì because I've never tried it :) Are there any other techniques you have tried to make Vietnamese coffee, or is this a traditional technique which everyone uses?
ReplyDeleteMuch thanks, Fahimah. I cannot count the number of times my grandmother had made bánh mì for the family when she was living. It certainly brings back memories. To answer your question, you may try brewing your coffee regularly with a coffee brewer but using the phin is a traditional way of making cà phê sữa. From experience, you may not have the same bitter-sweet taste if you were to use a brewer.
DeleteWhat kind of coffee beans do you prefer? As there are multiple kinds made by different companies.
ReplyDeleteGreat question, James. Typically, Vietnamese people prefer to use dark-roasted coffee beans. The coffee I used was medium-roast (Starbucks brand if that answers your question) and already ground.
DeleteOk thanks, I'll recommend this to some family members or friends.
DeleteI love making Vietnamese coffee, its the only coffee I will drink. I wish I could make banh bot loc. What dishes do your family make?
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DeleteLikewise, Olivia. I could drink Vietnamese all day. My mom makes banh bot loc a lot, however, it can never mimic the cooking flaws of my grandmother. My family loves making all kinds of chè ̣(which I am considering doing for one of my next posts). I would say that my absolute favorite kind of chè is chè ba màu.
DeleteWonderfully written post, Brandon! Being Vietnamese, I have grown up eating a variety of Vietnamese food, and I agree with you that certain dishes do take me back to visions of my childhood just like the food does for you. I love that even just the food of a culture can bring people so close together and that it can revive such wholesome memories. My favorite Vietnamese dish has to be chả giò because of the different kinds of ingredients you can choose to, in a sense, "customize" to your taste in the filling. I am also an avid coffee-drinker, and I would like to add that Vietnamese coffee is my favorite type of coffee, so seeing your post put a smile on my face :)
ReplyDeleteI am glad you enjoyed my post, Kristy. I had never thought that being Vietnamese could put us at such an advantage (not to mention all the great food we get to eat), and seeing you go through the same phase as I did, where we are taken back to our childhood, makes me even more proud to be a true Vietnamese. I do have to agree with you. A warm chả giò once in a while definitely hits the spot! Similarly, I am also a true coffee aficionado (I would say addict even) like you. I cannot go a morning without any coffee!
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