I remember my grandmother's fish sauce coffee.

Nowadays, people harvest coffee beans when they are just beginning to turn yellow.

My grandmother was a migrant from the North who moved to Bao Loc ( Lam Dong province) in 1954. In this area, she was probably one of the first people to plant coffee trees, as evidenced by the fact that her garden still has old, gnarled coffee trees over 30 years old.

Perhaps because of her long association with coffee plants, my grandmother "invented" this unique coffee with fermented fish sauce nearly 30 years ago. First, the raw coffee beans are those dropped by birds (bats) at the base of the plant. These beans are washed and dried. The pot used for roasting the coffee must be a cast iron pot with a thickness of about 1-2 mm. My grandmother would grease the pot with butter, and after it heated up, she would add about 2 kg of coffee beans and roast them evenly. When the beans turned a light golden color, she would add a little vanilla powder and continue roasting.

I remember very clearly my grandmother saying, "The cast iron pot stays hot for a long time, so if you don't roast the coffee evenly, some beans will be undercooked and some overcooked, and the flavor will be diminished." When the coffee beans turned a reddish-brown color, she would pour in about 2-3 tablespoons of fish sauce and stir well before removing it from the fire. The coffee would then be left to steep in the cast iron pot for about 15-20 minutes before being ground into powder. My grandmother's fish sauce coffee, when brewed, had a very rich flavor; if exposed to sunlight, the surface of the coffee would have a slight oily sheen.

For nearly 20 years, although we still vividly remember how my grandmother used to make fish sauce coffee, my family has stopped making it using that recipe. Perhaps it's because we don't have the time, or maybe this method would remind us of her, even though she passed away almost 20 years ago.

(Entry for the "Impressions on Vietnamese Coffee and Tea" contest, part of the "Celebrating Vietnamese Coffee and Tea" program, 2nd edition, 2024, organized by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper).

Source: https://nld.com.vn/nho-ca-phe-mam-cua-noi-196240323105813895.htm