TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Email
Print
Ready For Cool Pick-Me-Up Treat?
Photo by JADEN HAIR
A Vietnamese Iced Coffee starts with a strong brew and sweetened condensed milk.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: July 8, 2008
Updated: 07/08/2008 06:44 pm
Related Links
I first started drinking coffee when I was in college, not because I needed the caffeine, but because I was the young tagalong in a group of rich, motorcycle-riding, super-cool, geeky Asians. Please. Disengage your visual cortex and do not try to picture that in your mind. Just take my word for it that they were all that AND got honors marks.
The gang all had expensive "rice rocket bikes," so I bought one and they taught me how to ride my Ninja Kawasaki. While in motion, I was every man's dream ... long, black hair sashaying in the wind, tight leather pants and tall boots with 4-inch heels. In movement, I was as hot as a Thai chili pepper on fire in a bikini. But I cursed the traffic signals and signs that required me to stop every few blocks and touch foot to pavement.
Errr ... let me be accurate ... touch tippy toe to pavement. And notice that I didn't say "tippy toes" because I'm like 5-foot-1, and even with 4-inch heels I had a hard time flat-footing on my bike.
It probably wasn't the safest mode of transportation for me, but the part of my spine that held up my self-worth was underdeveloped at the time, probably stopping around L4, just narrowly missing the spot where height and self-identity reside. I wanted to be like them.
After each ride, we'd go hang out at a coffee shop; it was always the same one and the coffee was rancid. It was no surprise: The owners and employees were 20-pack-a-day smokaholics and when your taste buds are saturated with more than 4,000 toxic chemicals every single second, even the ashtray tastes faintly like a spicy BBQ sauce. I would doctor up that coffee with loads of creamer and three packets of sugar.
Fast-forward 17 years, and although my sense of self-identity has grown and is coasting smoothly in fourth gear, my height and taste for sweet coffee is permanently stuck in park. It's no longer sugar packets that I rip open, though.
Like a good member of society, I've moved on to something more caloric and rich: sweetened condensed milk. And sweetheart, do not let that stop you from trying this coffee because believe me when I say it tastes just like melted Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream. A very wonderful, ice-cold coffee drink perfect as a 3 p.m. pick-me-up treat.
Jaden Hair is a cooking instructor and author of the blog Jaden's Steamy Kitchen at steamykitchen
You can find a Vietnamese metal coffeemaker at an Asian market. They usually run about $4. Sweetened condensed milk can be found in the canned milk section of any grocer. The brew is super rich and strong, and adding it to a tall glass with ice makes the perfect sweet Vietnamese coffee. If you don't have a Vietnamese coffeemaker, feel free to use 1/3 cup of espresso or 1/3 cup of triple-strength brewed coffee. That's all you need because the ice melts when you pour in the hot brew and the combination ends up being just the right consistency. The type of ground coffee popular for Vietnamese coffee is called Cafe du Monde, a blend of French roast and chicory in a golden yellow can. Yes, this coffee brand is named after the famous New Orleans cafe. I've got step-by-step photo instructions on steamykitchen.com.
VIETNAMESE ICED COFFEE
2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
1 small glass
1 Vietnamese metal coffee press
2 tablespoons strong French roast coffee, coarsely ground
1/3 cup boiling hot water
1 tall 8-ounce glass filled to brim with ice
Pour sweetened condensed milk in the small glass (it's best that you use glass so you can watch the coffee drip down). Take the metal coffeemaker and unscrew the metal filter from the base. Spoon coffee grounds into the base and screw the filter back on tightly, packing in the coffee. Place coffeemaker on top of the short glass and pour hot, boiling water into the coffeemaker, filling it to the top. You can use the tip of spoon to tighten the screw of the filter more (if coffee is dripping too quickly) or loosen it (if coffee is not dripping at all).
The slower the drip, the stronger the coffee. Be patient! The entire process should take about 3 minutes and the result should look like espresso. You can add more water if you want. When the coffee is done, remove coffeemaker and stir the coffee and condensed milk together. Pour this over a tall glass filled with ice. Enjoy!
.com.
Email
Print
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
