Matcha Vietnamese Iced Coffee (Ca Phe Sua Da)

When I was a kid, Sundays were always lazy and quiet. My mom would cook me a breakfast of eggs seasoned with soy sauce, and serve it with a glass of milk. My parents would have the same thing but instead of milk, they would have ca phe sua da or Vietnamese iced coffee. I was always jealous because in comparison to my milk, the coffee tasted better. Sometimes I would sneak a few spoonfuls into my cup to make my milk taste better. Nowadays when I smell the aroma of Vietnamese coffee, I think back to those lazy Sundays.

A little history of Vietnamese iced coffee

The origins of Vietnamese iced coffee can be traced back to the 1850s when the French introduced coffee to Vietnam. After its introduction, coffee production slowly grew with time. It was briefly interrupted during the Vietnam War, but after the end of the war, it rapidly grew to one of Vietnam’s biggest exports. Today, it’s the 2nd biggest export from Vietnam.

Normally in Western cultures, people drink coffee with milk, but in Vietnam, fresh milk was hard to come by. So the solution was sweetened condensed milk. Today, a truly authentic Vietnamese iced coffee is made with condensed milk and any type of dark roast coffee. I personally like to use Cafe Du Monde coffee to make my Vietnamese Iced Coffee. It is the closest in taste to what is used in Vietnam.

How is my matcha Vietnamese iced coffee different?

The only difference between mine and what is traditionally served is I added matcha to the condensed milk. I think the bitterness from the matcha powder balances out the sweetness from the condensed milk. Balancing out the sweetness from the matcha powder is a technique I employ in a variety of matcha desserts like in my matcha tiramisu.

Adding matcha to my Vietnamese coffee

I came up with this idea when I was trying to come up with a recipe for a collaboration with Aiya Matcha. I met the brand at the Fancy Food Show earlier this year, and I am so excited to be developing some recipes for them! They seriously have the best matcha and matcha products!

For my first recipe in this collaboration, I wanted something inspired and spoke to who I am as a cook. So this recipe came to mind. Matcha powder is naturally bitter tasting, so I knew condensed milk would balance that out really well. The aromatic taste of dark roast coffee would also go really well with matcha.

How to make matcha Vietnamese coffee

The first step to making this matcha Vietnamese coffee is to mix 1 teaspoon of Aiya Matcha Culinary Grade Matcha with 2 tablespoons of condensed milk. You can use more or less depending on how sweet you want your coffee. Use a whisk to make sure the matcha doesn’t clump up. Pour the matcha condensed milk into a glass. Add 2 tablespoons of dark roast coffee to a Vietnamese coffee filter and put it on top of the small glass. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the coffee filter and let it drip for 5 minutes. Once done, remove the coffee filter and discard the coffee grounds. Mix the coffee and matcha condensed milk. At this point, you can either drink it from the glass or pour the coffee into a glass with ice.

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Thank you to Aiya Matcha for sponsoring this post!

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