Recipe
Sữa chua cà phê
Vietnamese yogurt coffee
Roughly: SOO-uh CHOO-uh ka fe
Yogurt in Vietnam is its own dessert category, and putting coffee on it was inevitable.
What you need
Equipment
- A phin, 120 ml
- A tall glass
- A long spoon
Ingredients
- Vietnamese-style set yogurt, or thick plain yogurt120 g
Vietnamese sữa chua is made with condensed milk and is sweeter and denser than plain Western yogurt.
- Sweetened condensed milk15 ml1 tbsp
Skip this if using a sweetened yogurt.
- Dark-roast Vietnamese robusta, medium-coarse18 g
- Water, just off the boil90 ml
- Crushed icea handful
Method
- 1
Brew and cool
Brew an 18 g phin and let it cool. Hot coffee will split the yogurt.
Look for: Coffee at room temperature.
- 2
Yogurt in the bottom
Spoon the yogurt into the glass and stir in the condensed milk if using. Level the surface.
Look for: A dense white layer filling the lower third.
- 3
Crushed ice on top
A layer of crushed ice over the yogurt. This keeps the coffee from mixing straight in.
Look for: The yogurt is hidden under ice.
- 4
Coffee over the ice
Pour the cooled coffee over the ice so it filters down slowly. Serve with a long spoon and let people mix it themselves.
Look for: Coffee pooling in the ice with white beneath.
If it goes wrong
| What happened | Why | What to change |
|---|---|---|
| The yogurt curdled into grains. | The coffee was too hot. | Cool the coffee completely. This is the only real failure mode of this drink. |
| It is sour rather than sweet. | Plain Western yogurt in place of Vietnamese sữa chua. | Add another tablespoon of condensed milk, or use a full-fat Greek yogurt which is less acidic. |
The short version
Thick sweetened yogurt in the bottom of a glass, crushed ice over it, cooled phin coffee poured on top. Stir before drinking.
Why yogurt
Yogurt arrived in Vietnam through the same French colonial channels as coffee, and was adapted the same way — made with condensed milk, set firm, and eaten as a dessert with fruit, sticky rice or coffee.
Sữa chua cà phê is the coffee version of an established dessert rather than a coffee shop’s novelty. It is sold from the same glass cabinets that sell yogurt with mango.
One rule
The coffee must be cold. Hot coffee curdles yogurt instantly and there is no recovering it.
Substitutions
| Instead of | Use | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Vietnamese set yogurt | Full-fat Greek yogurt plus condensed milk | The closest easily available match. Stir 1–2 tbsp of condensed milk into 120 g of Greek yogurt. |
Questions people ask
- Does yogurt coffee actually taste good?
- Yes — the acidity of the yogurt does something similar to what salt does in cà phê muối, cutting robusta's bitterness. It reads more as a dessert than as a coffee.
- Why is Vietnamese yogurt different?
- Vietnamese sữa chua is traditionally made with sweetened condensed milk, which makes it denser, sweeter and less sharp than most European or American plain yogurt. It is eaten widely as a dessert in its own right.
