1946年的越南正飽受與法國(guó)交戰(zhàn)之苦，牛奶短缺促使當(dāng)時(shí)在河內(nèi)索菲特傳奇大都會(huì)酒店（Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel）工作的阮文江想出了一種方法來替代傳統(tǒng)做法中搭配咖啡的煉乳。他的解決方案是打發(fā)生蛋黃。

這種創(chuàng)意大受歡迎，成為當(dāng)?shù)亓餍械奶厣嬈罚钗慕惨虼碎_了自己的咖啡店Gi?ng咖啡，吸引了來自于全國(guó)的客人。

傳統(tǒng)的cà phê trúng（越南雞蛋咖啡）是北越特色，由羅布斯塔咖啡豆、打發(fā)的雞蛋、糖和煉乳調(diào)成。就像具有典型文化特色的其他飲食一樣，隨著時(shí)間的推移，這種飲料最終跨越海洋和陸地，在越南國(guó)境之外廣為流傳，勾引著外國(guó)食客的味蕾，培養(yǎng)出一批又一批的忠實(shí)擁躉。

值得一提的是最基本的越南咖啡的做法——這是阮文江發(fā)明雞蛋咖啡的基礎(chǔ)。傳統(tǒng)的爪哇咖啡是一種深焙咖啡，味道濃烈而苦澀，與甜煉乳的口味相得益彰。越南咖啡有冷有熱，大約在1857年法國(guó)殖民統(tǒng)治期間首次引入國(guó)內(nèi)。由于當(dāng)時(shí)冷藏能力有限，奶牛又僅僅被當(dāng)作役用動(dòng)物，鮮牛奶缺乏，因此人們廣泛以煉乳的形式進(jìn)行乳制品的長(zhǎng)期儲(chǔ)存。

如今，這個(gè)東南亞國(guó)家是世界上第二大咖啡生產(chǎn)國(guó)（巴西排名第一），也是羅布斯塔咖啡的第一大產(chǎn)地（羅布斯塔咖啡豆產(chǎn)自于羅布斯塔咖啡樹，苦味濃烈、酸度低）。目前，北美大多數(shù)越南咖啡實(shí)際上用的是新奧爾良杜夢(mèng)咖啡館（Cafe du Monde）的咖啡和菊苣，這與河內(nèi)及其周邊地區(qū)仍然在使用羅布斯塔豆的做法并不一致。

然而，盡管基本款越南咖啡和越南菜在西方世界相對(duì)容易找到，雞蛋咖啡卻并不常見。例如，在紐約市，雞蛋咖啡迷實(shí)際上只有一個(gè)選擇：曼哈頓東村圣馬可廣場(chǎng)（St. Marks Place）上的河內(nèi)湯品店（Hanoi Soup Shop）。

“它絕對(duì)可以被當(dāng)成一道甜點(diǎn)。”河內(nèi)湯品店和河內(nèi)之家（Hanoi House）的老板之一薩拉·萊文這樣評(píng)價(jià)雞蛋咖啡，因?yàn)樗奈兜篮芟裉崂滋K。“這取決于你怎么看它：你之前吃了什么？你想要什么？蛋奶沙司自身的味道讓它吃起來就像甜品。”萊文解釋道，“它是甜的，但是你又加了黑咖啡，味道很濃。”

萊文和她現(xiàn)在的未婚夫本·洛厄爾曾經(jīng)環(huán)游世界，其中包括越南，他們?cè)谀且徽九囵B(yǎng)了對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)孛朗车臒釔郏?017年回國(guó)后，開了越南餐廳河內(nèi)之家。她回憶道，“當(dāng)時(shí)我們只能在唐人街的幾家餐廳找到幾道不正宗的河內(nèi)菜。”這可能要?dú)w因于美國(guó)越南移民的歷史：由于大多數(shù)越南移民來自于越南南部，他們隨之帶來了當(dāng)?shù)氐奶厣澄铩ｋm然雞蛋咖啡目前在越南全國(guó)上下都十分常見，但它無疑是北方產(chǎn)物。

這家餐廳最初只提供晚餐，后來增加了每周一次的早午餐服務(wù)，菜單包括雞蛋咖啡。萊文說：“一份咖啡要打發(fā)三個(gè)蛋黃，再加一點(diǎn)蜂蜜和煉乳。”在打發(fā)雞蛋的同時(shí)，需要加熱咖啡里的熱牛奶（這樣等把雞蛋倒在咖啡上時(shí)，既能保持一定熱度又不會(huì)導(dǎo)致溫度激增），做一杯咖啡需要四分鐘。她說：“做起來特別麻煩，但人們喜歡喝。”

今年4月，這對(duì)情侶在離河內(nèi)之家兩家門店的地方開了一家全天候的越南咖啡館——河內(nèi)湯品店。新店更多的是外賣服務(wù)，他們果斷在菜單上加入了雞蛋咖啡：但一家快餐外賣店怎么能出售一種幾乎需要5分鐘才能夠做好的咖啡呢？“我們破解了這個(gè)問題。”萊文說。現(xiàn)在，工作人員不再直接把雞蛋打發(fā)到飲料中，而是先做一個(gè)蛋奶沙司基底，并在空氣中靜置。他們先做好大量的蛋奶沙司基底、冷卻，然后把它倒入咖啡中，冷熱均可。萊文說：“每天進(jìn)店的50個(gè)人中，有6到8個(gè)人是為了喝咖啡。河內(nèi)湯品店的越南雞蛋咖啡售價(jià)為8美元，大約是普通越南熱咖啡價(jià)格的兩倍。

粉絲們?cè)诩幽么笠材軌蛘业皆兜碾u蛋咖啡。越南戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)之后，定居在加拿大的難民帶來了越南的傳統(tǒng)食物，至今在加拿大仍然可以看到這些美食的身影——包括雞蛋咖啡。

2016年開業(yè)的多倫多Dak Lak咖啡店里的雞蛋咖啡（4.99加元）由兩個(gè)打發(fā)的蛋黃、煉乳、咖啡和可可粉制成。（和河內(nèi)湯品店一樣，Dak Lak咖啡店的蛋奶沙司也是提前做好的。）這里使用的咖啡豆是從越南直接進(jìn)口的，是羅布斯塔咖啡豆和阿拉比卡咖啡豆的拼配。這家加拿大咖啡店的總經(jīng)理慶范說：“這是做出美味咖啡的理想配比。”說到這款咖啡的受歡迎程度，慶范估計(jì)，每天到店的顧客中，有80%的人是為了喝杯咖啡而來。

雞蛋咖啡并不是河內(nèi)唯一一款被西方世界列入必喝清單的飲料：椰子咖啡在河內(nèi)之家和Dak Lak都很受歡迎。在多倫多，慶范的員工把椰子奶油和煉乳倒在越南蒸餾咖啡上，再撒上一層烤椰子屑。在紐約，河內(nèi)之家的團(tuán)隊(duì)還供應(yīng)一種用椰子冰淇淋、椰奶和咖啡制成的凍椰子咖啡。萊文說，在越南，這種飲料的制作方式略有不同（用她的話說，“超級(jí)棒！”）：把甜椰奶和冰混在一起，形成一種冰凍飲料，然后泡在咖啡里，最終做出的咖啡像液態(tài)甜品一樣，吸引了全世界的顧客。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：Agatha

In 1946, when Vietnam was plagued by war with France, a shortage of milk led Nguyen Van Giang, who was then working at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, to come up with a substitute for the condensed milk traditionally used when preparing coffee. His solution? Whipped egg yolks.

The creative improvisation caught on and became a revered local drink in its own right, eventually leading Van Giang to open his own shop, Gi?ng Cafe, which has since become a national attraction in the city.

Traditional cà phê trúng (Vietnamese egg coffee) is a Northern Vietnamese specialty made with robusta beans, whisked eggs, sugar, and condensed milk. As is the case with culturally defining culinary endeavors, it was only a matter of time until the drink made its way across oceans and continents, tickling palates and developing devotees among folks living outside Vietnam.

A note should be made about the most elemental form of Vietnamese coffee, which predates and is the basis of Van Giang’s glorious invention. The traditional java is of the dark roast kind—incredibly strong and bitter—with flavors counterbalanced by sweetened condensed milk. Served hot or cold, coffee in Vietnam was first introduced around 1857 during French colonization. Limited refrigeration capabilities, the use of cows solely as work animals, and scarcity of fresh milk led to the widespread use of condensed milk for storing dairy long term.

Today, the Southeast Asian country is the second largest producer of coffee in the world (Brazil is No. 1) and the first when only taking into account the robusta variety (from the Coffea canephora plant, boasting high bitterness and low acidity levels). Currently, most Vietnamese coffee in North America is actually made with Café du Monde’s coffee and chicory beans—produced in New Orleans—a departure from the robusta beans still used in Hanoi and its surrounding areas.

And yet, while standard Vietnamese coffee and cuisine can be found throughout Western countries relatively easily, egg coffee is not prevalent. In New York City, for example, aficionados virtually have a single option: Hanoi Soup Shop on St. Marks Place in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood.

“It absolutely could be a dessert,” says Sara Leveen, co-owner of Hanoi Soup Shop and Hanoi House, of cà phê trúng, whose flavor many describe as tiramisu-like. “It is what you make of it: What did you have before? What are you craving? The custard itself tastes like it could very easily be a dessert,” Leveen explains. “It’s sweet, but then you mix in all that dark black coffee, and it is strong.”

Following a trip around the world that included stops in Vietnam, where they developed a taste for the local culinary offerings, Leveen and her now-fiancé Ben Lowell opened Hanoi House, a Vietnamese eatery, back in 2017. “There were just some dishes from Hanoi that we would find bastardized versions of in places in Chinatown,” she recalls. That is likely the result of the history of migration to the United States: As most Vietnamese immigrants hail from the southern part of Vietnam, they brought along regional specialties. Although now widespread in Vietnam, cà phê trúng is undoubtedly a northern creation.

Only serving dinner initially, the business partners eventually added brunch service once a week, offering a menu that included the egg concoction. “It was three egg yolks for one order of coffee, whipped to order, with a drizzle of honey and condensed milk,” Leveen says. Needing to heat the milk with hot coffee as the eggs were whisked (so that, once they hit the coffee, they’d stay warm but not get shocked), each drink would take four minutes to prepare. “It was a pain in the ass, but people loved it,” she says.

This past April, the couple opened an all-day Vietnamese café two doors down from their first shop. More of a takeout effort, Hanoi Soup Shop decidedly demanded the presence of cà phê trúng on the menu: But could a quick takeout business serve a coffee that requires almost five minutes to be made? “We hacked it,” Leveen says. Instead of whisking the eggs directly into the drink, the staff now cooks a custard base and aerates it. Making large batches, they cook it, cool it, and then pour it into the coffee, which can be served either hot or cold. According to Leveen, “out of 50 people that walk through the door every day, six to eight of them are coming just for coffee.” Hanoi Soup Shop’s Vietnamese egg coffee costs $8, about double the amount for the café’s regular hot Vietnamese coffee.

Fans will also find faithful renditions of the treat up in Canada. Following the Vietnam War, refugees who settled in Canada brought along with them food-related traditions that still pepper the local gastro scene—including cà phê trúng.

At Coffee Dak Lak in Toronto, open since 2016, the egg coffee ($4.99 Canadian) is made with two whisked egg yolks, condensed milk, coffee, and cocoa powder. (Like Hanoi Soup Shop, the egg custard at Coffee Dak Lak is prepared in advance.) The beans used here are imported directly from Vietnam and are a mixture of robusta and arabica beans. “An ideal ratio to make a good tasting coffee,” says Khanh Pham, the general manager at the Canadian coffee shop. In terms of popularity, Pham estimates that about 80% of customers who stop in daily do so singularly for a cup of coffee.

Cà phê trúng is not the only Hanoi drink that claims a spot on Western culinary bucket lists: Coconut coffee is a popular order at both Hanoi House and Coffee Dak Lak as well. In Toronto, Pham’s staff uses coconut cream and condensed milk, pours it onto a Vietnamese coffee espresso, and tops it off with roasted coconut crumbs. In New York City, the Hanoi House team prepares a frozen coconut coffee made with coconut gelato, coconut milk, and coffee. As Leveen mentions, the Vietnamese way of preparing the drink is slightly different (“badass,” in her own terms): sweetened coconut milk and ice are blended to form a sort of frappé that then gets drenched in coffee, giving rise to a liquid dessert-like brew that appeals to masses worldwide.