Man draws Vietnam’s landmarks on egg coffee

A man in Ho Chi Minh City has combined his passion for coffee and love of Vietnamese culture into a special drink at his café.

Cao Truong Minh, a 38-year-old architect in Binh Thanh District, has opened a coffee shop on Nguyen Huu Canh Street in the hope of promoting the image of Vietnam and its people through coffee.

One of his specialties is egg coffee with sketches featuring traditional Vietnamese images drawn on the surface.

Minh first started drawing simple flower patterns before depicting Vietnam’s famous historical and cultural landscapes such as Ben Thanh Market and Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica in Ho Chi Minh City, One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi, Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh, and more.

Cao Truong Minh is working on an image of Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh Province over a cup of egg coffee at his coffee shop in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

The architect shared that it took him around three months to practice and master the skill of drawing on a cup of egg coffee.

A cup like that requires the barista around 20 minutes to half an hour to finish.

“I want to create a new look for the egg coffee which carries some features of our culture,” Minh said during an interview with Tuoi Tre News.

Cao Truong Minh is working on a cup of egg coffee before serving it to his customer at his coffee shop in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Originating in Hanoi, egg coffee has become popular with locals and foreigners visiting Hanoi in recent years.

A cup of egg coffee, which is usually served hot, consists of a creamy whisked mixture of egg yolk, sugar, and sweet condensed milk on top of the hot black coffee underneath.

According to Minh, the hardest task is to make sure the whisked egg yolk layer is fluffy enough for him to sketch on.

Cao Truong Minh is whisking the egg yolk mixture for the egg coffee at his coffee shop in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Ngoc Phuong/ Tuoi Tre

The fluffier the egg yolk mixture is, the easier it is for Minh to sketch on the top layer. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

“Egg coffee here is more special than some other places I have tried,” Nguyen Bao Ngan, a customer visiting Minh’s café, commented.

“Normally, shops only serve egg coffee with some shapes like hearts or smiley faces on them but here he even draws sketches of landscapes.

“It’s so much more eye-catching!

“The coffee stays hot all the time because it is served over a candle, so I can freely chit-chat with my friends without worrying that my drink is going to cool down.”

Nguyen Bao Ngan (right) from Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City enjoys egg coffee at Minh’s shop. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Some landscape sketches on coffee by Cao Truong Minh:

Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

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