Chè: The Sweet World of Vietnamese Desserts

Chè is the umbrella word for Vietnamese sweet things eaten with a spoon: bean soups, tapioca puddings, jellied drinks, fruit-in-coconut-milk concoctions, sweet broths poured over crushed ice. It is dessert, snack and street drink at once, and the range is enormous.

What it is

A chè is built from a base — beans (mung, black, red), tapioca pearls, jellies, taro, sticky rice, fruit — combined with a sweet liquid and sometimes a coconut-cream topping. Served hot in cooler weather and cold over crushed ice when it is warm.

The main families

Chè ba màu — the southern "three-colour" parfait. Red beans, mung bean paste, green pandan jelly, layered in a glass with coconut milk and crushed ice. Around 20,000 to 30,000 VND.

Chè đậu xanh — sweet mung bean soup, eaten hot or cold. Smooth, simple, often the entry-level chè for visitors.

Chè bưởi — pomelo-rind chè from Bến Tre. The white pith is candied until it becomes a chewy translucent jelly, then served with mung bean and coconut cream.

Chè chuối — banana cooked in coconut milk and tapioca, usually warm, with peanuts.

Chè trôi nước — glutinous rice balls filled with mung bean paste, floating in a ginger-and-sugar syrup. Eaten at the Lunar Hàn Thực festival in the third lunar month.

Chè Huế — the imperial city specialises in tiny portions of many varieties; a proper chè Huế tour will involve six or eight thimble-sized glasses.

Where to try it

In Hanoi: Chè Bốn Mùa at 4 Hàng Cân in the Old Quarter is the long-running standard. In HCMC: Chè Hiển Khánh on Nguyễn Tri Phương, or any of the chè stalls in District 5's Chinese quarter. In Huế: Chè Hẻm at 17 Hùng Vương is the institution.

How to eat it

Stir from the bottom. The pleasure of a layered chè ba màu is the contrast between coconut milk on top and pandan jelly at the bottom; eat each layer separately first if you like, then stir and finish. A short plastic spoon is standard.

Regional variations

The south is sweeter, colder and more tropical (mango, jackfruit, durian). Huế makes precise, small, finicky chè. Hanoi keeps a more austere range, leaning on mung bean and lotus seed.

Honest take

Chè is the easiest cheap pleasure in Vietnam. After a heavy lunch, a glass of chè ba màu for 25,000 VND eaten on a pavement stool is more satisfying than any sit-down dessert. Order one of each on your first visit to a chè shop and find your favourite.

Related reading: Vietnamese fruits, Central and southern cuisine, Huế food guide, Hanoi food guide, HCMC food guide.