Che Chè
Che is Vietnam’s sweet soup, eaten with a spoon in the afternoon: beans, jellies, fruit, lotus seeds, or sticky rice in syrup or coconut milk. Every city has its own bowls and its old shops.
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Search on KlookWhere it comes from
Eaten across Vietnam, usually in the afternoon.
How to enjoy it
Order one bowl and share it if you are unsure. Eat it with a spoon, after lunch or in the afternoon, sitting down.
In Da Nang, bean chè and durian chè are different desserts. Durian chè smells like durian. Skip it if that fruit is not yours.
In Hanoi, the mixed bowl, chè thập cẩm, layers red bean and mung bean pastes, glutinous rice balls, and herbal jelly, with coconut and jasmine syrup. Lotus seed and black jelly is another bowl. Cold chè comes with jellies and fruit, and chè ba màu is red beans, mashed mung beans, and pandan jelly.
Where to try it
In Da Nang, Chè Xuân Trang, 31 Lê Duẩn, is the bean dessert, chè đậu. Chè Liên, 16 đường 2/9, is the durian dessert, chè sầu riêng. Both have been city rooms for decades.
In Ho Chi Minh City the sweet soups include lotus seed, green beans, red beans, peanuts, black sesame, longan, ginkgo, water chestnut, ginseng tonic, braised chicken egg (like flan), chicken egg soaked in black tea, and steamed papaya. Streets in Districts 1, 5, and 10 have shops. A shop on Su Van Hanh serves a 16-cup tray: Ba Ba, a bean sweet soup, banana, corn, white bean, taro, and dumplings, with coconut jelly, sticky rice, and flan. Thai sweet soup tastes of durian and sweet, fatty milk.
In Hanoi, Chè Bốn Mùa serves lotus seed and black jelly, and Che 95 is at 95 Hàng Bạc, Hoàn Kiếm.
In Hoi An, chè bắp, chè đậu xanh, and chè hạt sen, each bowl fragrant with coconut milk.