Help me make Ca Phe Sua Da in Manhattan....

August 27, 2016 6:01 PM

Can anyone tell this Brit of a shop that might stock sweetened condensed milk in Manhattan? I found some Vietnamese coffee today when I was wandering around Chinatown and really fancy some ca phe sua da, but haven't been able to find the condensed milk in any local stores.
posted by 43rdAnd9th to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

It should be at any decent sized grocery. Look in the baking section.
posted by youcancallmeal at 6:03 PM on August 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

(or use Prime Now.... if we have it for delivery in Baltimore, I can't imagine NYC doesn't.)
posted by youcancallmeal at 6:05 PM on August 27, 2016

Best answer: It should be in most larger grocery stores in Manhattan, in the baking section. You're looking for Carnation or Magnolia or Eagle brand. Make sure you get *sweetened condensed milk* and not evaporated milk (very different).
posted by unknowncommand at 6:09 PM on August 27, 2016 [6 favorites]

It's a standard item in major grocery store. We get it all the time. Look next to the evaporated milk. Which is usually in the near the flour, sugar and cake mixes, on a bottom shelf.
posted by SLC Mom at 6:09 PM on August 27, 2016

If you're only finding convenience-store sized shops, look for a Mexican market; condensed milk is enough of a staple that they're likely to have it even in a smaller store.
posted by aimedwander at 6:17 PM on August 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

In case it comes in a different package in the UK, you're looking for something like this. A squat can, mostly white with some red (Carnation brand looks very similar; I've tried both and have no brand preference.) Folks in the US mostly use it to make pumpkin pie so as other folks said it is usually in the baking aisle. At my local store it is near the canned pie fillings.
posted by tchemgrrl at 6:19 PM on August 27, 2016

As others have said, you can find this in well-stocked supermarkets, but finding a supermarket in that part of town is not easy. Your best bet is Ken Hing market, which is a Chinese market that specializes in Vietnamese food. Failing that, walk up to Whole Foods on Houston, which is sure to have it in the baking section.
posted by caek at 6:40 PM on August 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you're at the address in your username, you can find it in the baking section of the Food Emporium at 43rd and 10th.
posted by yellowcandy at 8:09 PM on August 27, 2016

There's also the brand La Lechera which comes in a can or a squeeze bottle.
posted by acidic at 10:16 PM on August 27, 2016

Eagle Brand condensed milk if American. If you are in an Asian market then Longevity Brand (picture of old man.) In American stores it is in the baking ingredients aisle.
posted by jadepearl at 1:33 AM on August 28, 2016

I bought it yesterday at the Fairway on 86th and 3rd avenue in Manhattan. It's generally in the baking section of larger grocery stores.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 4:09 AM on August 28, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks to everyone who replied. Whole Foods at Columbus did indeed have it. (I did look in Food Emporium on 43rd, but both I and the employee I asked failed to find it!)

But now I have coffee and condensed milk, so I'll be taking ca phe sua da to work for my mid-morning drink tomorrow...
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 4:58 PM on August 28, 2016