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Vietnamese food: the magic of egg coffee

Vietnam has its own take on frothy coffee. At Vancouver's latest Vietnamese restaurant, Chi Modern Vietnamese Restaurant , Chef Chi Le wants to introduce customers to the Vietnamese-style egg coffee.
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Vietnam has its own take on frothy coffee.

At Vancouver's latest Vietnamese restaurant, Chi Modern Vietnamese Restaurant, Chef Chi Le wants to introduce customers to the Vietnamese-style egg coffee.

"Egg coffee is a specialty of the north of Vietnam," Chi explains. "Egg appeared in regular coffee as a result of the Vietnamese people wanting to copy the world-famous latte. "

Coffee, meanwhile, has always been a staple in Vietnam.

"We have hundreds, even thousands, of coffee shops, right down to the bicycle seller in the street, who will brew the coffee right in front of you,” says Chi. “Thanks to our French influence, Vietnam is now the third largest distributor of coffee in the world, and people visit coffee shops two or even three times a day."

So how is egg coffee made?

"The egg yolk is fully beaten until it’s fluffy and then spooned onto either hot black coffee or hot milk coffee,” says Chi. “The egg floats on top, so the ideal way to drink Vietnamese coffee is with a long-handled spoon: you scoop up the egg mixture and catch the coffee as well. If you make it in a glass, you can see the layers.”

While Vietnamese coffee is often served hot, an iced version is available for those hot summer days. Just check with Chi what the flavour of the day is.

"I want to make a difference in Vietnamese cuisine in Vancouver,” Chi says. “I think Vietnamese food has been misunderstood outside of Vietnam, particularly here in Vancouver, and I want to do my part to showcase our food to all the different cultural groups living in the Greater Vancouver are these days.”

For more information on Chi Modern Vietnamese Kitchen call 604.336.3010, check out their website, send them an email, or stop by 1935 West 4th Avenue during open hours. The restaurant can also be found on Facebook and Instagram.