Che or Vietnamese sweet soup is a street snack with a gentle aroma and a cool sweetness that makes you addicted with just one time trying. There is a variety of them such as young green rice sweet soup, mixed sweet soup, longan and lotus seed sweet soup,... Vietnamese che recipes are also extremely simple, you can make it yourself at home without having to prepare much, with some suggestions below.
I - Top 3 popular Vietnamese che recipes in the Northern region
Sweet soups of the North are often simple but secretly delicate with a natural aroma coming from the ingredients. The making process is also meticulous, for example, if using nuts, they will be carefully dropped into the pot so as not to sink to the bottom.
1 - Che com recipe (young green rice gruel recipe)
Che com or young green rice sweet soup - Source: @savourydays
Autumn in Hanoi is also known to many people as the season of com or young green rice when its fragrance gently spreads throughout the streets. Hanoians often use this ingredient to make a lot of dishes, the most prominent of which is Che com. With a simple recipe, the ingredients have turned into a very attractive dish with a blend of the chewy and cool taste of young green rice grains and the sweetness of coconut milk.
Che com recipe - one of the popular Vietnamese che recipes:
- Total time: 25 mins (10 mins preparation & 15 mins cooking)
- Yield: 6 people
- Category: Dessert
- Nutrition: 330 kcal
Ingredients:
- Water
- 100g fresh young green rice
- 50g tapioca
- 200g - 400g white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp pomelo blossom essential oil
Steps:
- Preparing sugar water: Stir the sugar with 1 liter of water to dissolve in a pot, then put it on the stove to boil.
- Preparing tapioca water: Mix tapioca flour with 300ml of water, and filter out residue.
- Cook the mixture: When sugar water boils, gradually pour in tapioca water, while also stirring so that the starch dissolves. When the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat and sprinkle the young green rice into the pot and stir well until it is evenly mixed. When the pot boils slightly, add pomelo blossom essential oil, stir well and turn off the stove. Let it cool then scoop it out into bowls.
2 - Vietnamese che recipes: Che Troi Nuoc recipe
Che troi nuoc or rice balls sweet soup is an attractive dish - Source: webkhoedep
The recipe of this dish is not complicated and the complete dish is soft round rice balls with a delicious taste combined from sugar and ginger, the chewiness of the powder, and the aroma of roasted sesame…
Che troi nuoc recipe:
- Total time: 1.5 hours (30 mins preparation & 1 hour cooking)
- Yield: 10 people
- Category: Dessert
- Nutrition: 513 kcal
Ingredients:
- 400g sticky rice flour
- 40g rice flour
- 130g shredded fresh coconut
- 1 tbsp roasted white / black sesame
- 1 tsp pomelo blossom essential oil
- 300g dark palm sugar
Steps:
- Make dough: Mix sticky rice flour with rice flour, then slowly pour in water and stir until the flour is completely dissolved. Let it sit for about 3 hours, then put it out onto a thick towel, tie tightly and let it drain.
- Make filling: In the next step of these Vietnamese che recipes, cut dark palm sugar into small squares the size of pomegranate seeds.
- Shape the rice balls: Take enough dough and then roll it flat, put a sugar square in the middle, cover the dough and gently roll to make it round.
- Cook the mixture: Boil 1 liter of water then drop the balls in, when they float to the surface then they’re cooked. Take the rice balls out into a bowl of cold water then put them on a plate, sprinkle a little roasted sesame, and add pomelo blossom essential oil.
3 - Che Thap Cam recipe
Che thap cam or mixed sweet soup is a familiar dish of Vietnamese people, a combination of many types of ingredients. It has a sweet, fatty, and attractive flavor in a very unique way. Although its recipe takes a long time to prepare, the steps are very simple and not fussy at all.
Che thap cam recipe is one of the easy Vietnamese che recipes - Source: ytimg
Che thap cam recipe:
- Total time: 1 hour (20 mins preparation & 40 mins cooking)
- Yield: 4 people
- Category: Dessert
- Nutrition: 500 kcal
Ingredients:
- 100g red beans
- 100g black beans
- 100g green beans
- 100g white beans
- 100g young green rice
- 300ml coconut milk
- 3g of jelly
- 4 tbsp tapioca starch
- 2 tbsp fat powder
- 50g desiccated coconut
- 400g sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
Steps:
- Preliminary process: Soak the beans in cold water with salt for about 6 hours, wash and dry the young green rice, and mix tapioca flour with 100ml of water to dissolve.
- Cook green beans: Wash and put the green beans in a pot, fill with water, let it boil then add 2 tbsp of sugar and ½ cup of tapioca flour, and stir until cooked.
- Cook the remaining beans: The next step of the Vietnamese che recipes is to put the beans in a pot and pour water, stew until soft, then separate the beans and mix them with 300g of sugar, boil over low heat for about 10 minutes and then pour them into a bowl.
- Cook the young green rice: Put the young green rice, 500ml of water and a little salt in a pot and boil, then add 2 tbsp of sugar and all the remaining tapioca starch, stir well to boil for 3 minutes.
- Make jelly: Put 1 tbsp of coconut milk, 1 tbsp of sugar, 3g of jelly, and 300ml of cold water in a bowl and stir, then boil for about 3 minutes, let it cool, and put it in the refrigerator.
- Make coconut milk juice: Put the remaining coconut milk, 1 cup of water, 2 tbsp of sugar, and 2 tbsp of fat powder in a pot, and put on the stove to boil for 3 minutes.
- Finish: Pour the beans with broth, jelly, and coconut milk into glasses, sprinkle with desiccated coconut on top, and add ice.
II - Top 2 Vietnamese che recipes of the Central region
Che is an indispensable dish in the culinary life of people in the Central region, not only as a dessert but also as a solemn offering during holidays.
1 - Che long nhan hat sen recipe
Lotus seed sweet soup with longan - Source: giadinh
As a royal and noble dish in the past, this type of Che is now used to cool down and help sleep well. The purest flavor can only be achieved by following the recipe of the Hue people as below.
Che long nhan hat sen recipe:
- Total time: 1 hour (40 mins preparation & 20 mins cooking)
- Yield: 4 people
- Category: Dessert
- Nutrition: 1112 kcal
Ingredients:
- 100g red beans
- 50 lotus seeds
- 50 longans
- 100g rock sugar
Steps:
- Preliminary process of lotus seeds: In the first step of the Vietnamese che recipes, you wash and remove the young shoots of fresh lotus seeds and put them in a pot to simmer. If they are dried then soak them in cold water for about 8 hours before simmering.
- Cooking lotus seeds: Take lotus seeds out and cook them in rock sugar to sweeten.
- Preliminary process of longan: Peel and carefully remove the seeds so that the flesh of the fruit is not torn but still retains its shape.
- Shaping: Put the sweetened lotus seeds into the longans.
- Finish: Reheat the rock sugar water used to cook the lotus seeds, then add the longans and cook until boiling, and if you want the complete dish sweeter, boil them on low heat.
2 - Che dau van recipe
Che dau van or hyacinth bean sweet soup is an extremely famous dish of Hue city, with a strange and mouthwatering taste. The yellow beans, even though thoroughly cooked but still firm, blended perfectly with the greasy coconut milk.
Top famous Vietnamese che recipes - Source: dienmayxanh
Che dau van recipe:
- Total time: 1 hour 40 mins (30 mins preparation & 1 hour 10 mins cooking)
- Yield: 4 people
- Category: Dessert
- Nutrition: 413 kcal
Ingredients:
- 500g hyacinth beans
- 400g grated coconut
- 180ml fresh milk
- 200g white sugar
- 80g tapioca flour
- 3 tubes vanilla
Steps:
- Preliminary process: Soak the beans in warm water for about 7 - 10 hours, then gently rub the beans to peel off the cover. Stir the starch with water until completely dissolved. Soak grated coconut in hot water for about 20 - 30 minutes and then filter out the residue.
- Cook the beans: Steam the beans for about 40 - 50 minutes then let them cool.
- Processing coconut: Boil coconut milk and add unsweetened fresh milk, ⅓ cup of tapioca water, and 3 vanilla tubes, keep stirring until boiling.
- Put 600ml of water, the remaining tapioca water, and 200g of white sugar in a pot and boil, stir well, and gradually add the steamed beans and cook until it’s gooey.
- Finish: Add 1 tbsp of coconut milk and enjoy.
III - Top 3 famous Vietnamese che recipes of the South
Coming to the South of Vietnam, most of che recipes here have also changed because the locals have a strong taste, with a habit of using seasonal ingredients to cook.
1 - Che banh lot cot dua recipe
Che banh lot cot dua or cendol sweet soup with coconut milk - Source: cet.edu
Known as a familiar rustic dish of the South, this type of sweet soup has a strange shape that looks like a worm, with a unique emerald green color. This dish is extremely delicious with the chewy cendol, attractive aroma, and very fatty coconut milk.
Che banh lot cot dua recipe
- Total time: 50 mins (20 mins preparation & 30 mins cooking)
- Yield: 4 people
- Category: Dessert
- Nutrition: 355 kcal
Ingredients:
- 10 pandan leaves
- 400g waterchestnut starch
- 400ml coconut milk
- 200g sugar
- 1 tsp of salt
Steps:
- Preliminary processing: In the first step of the Vietnamese che recipes to make Che banh lot cot dua, you wash the pandan leaves, cut them into small pieces, put them in a blender, puree them with 500ml of water, and filter out the residue.
- Mix starch: Put starch and salt in a bowl, slowly pour in pandan leaf juice and constantly stir until the mixture is dissolved and turns green, filter out the residue.
- Cook the dough: Put the above mixture in a pot and cook on low heat, stirring with a whisk until the mixture thickens, then turn off the heat but continue to stir.
- Shaping and cooking: Put the cooked dough into a shaping mold or use a basket with a large hole, boil a pot of water and press the dough down to get long strings. When they are cooked, pour them into a bowl of cold water/ice to chill.
- Cook coconut milk: Put coconut milk and sugar into a pot, and stir until boiling.
- Finish: Put the cendol into a glass, pour coconut milk, and a few crushed ice cubes on top.
2 - Che khuc bach recipe - top easy Vietnamese che recipes
A bowl of Che khuc bach - Source: youtube
Che khuc bach or almond panna cotta lychee dessert with its cool taste, chewy and soft jelly is loved by many Vietnamese people as well as foreign tourists. The name of the dish is also to indicate its shape, the word “khuc” means pieces, and “bach” means white.
Che khuc bach recipe
- Total time: 1 hour 20 mins (1 hour preparation & 20 mins)
- Yield: 2 people
- Category: Dessert
- Nutrition: 120 kcal
Ingredients:
- 250ml of fresh milk
- 250ml of fresh milk cream
- 15g gelatin powder
- 20g almonds
- 2g matcha powder
- 60g sugar
- 50g rock sugar
- 6 pandan leaves (longans or lychees, if any)
Steps:
- Mixture to make jelly: Mix150ml of fresh milk with gelatin and leave for 15 minutes, mix the remaining amount of milk with milk cream and sugar, dividing the mixture into 2 equal parts.
- Make white jelly: This is an important part of the Vietnamese che recipes to make Che khuc bach. Take 1 part and cook in the steamer on low heat, stir well until hot then add ½ of the gelatin - milk mixture and continue stirring for 10 minutes. Strain out the residue and place it in the refrigerator until frozen.
- Make green jelly: Do the same as making white jelly, but add green tea powder and a little water.
- Cooking sugar water: Cook rock sugar with 1 liter of water and pandan leaves, stirring continuously, adding longan or lychee if wanted.
- Finish: Cut the jelly into pieces, put it in a bowl and cover it with sugar water, sprinkle almonds.
3 - Che ba ba recipe
Che ba ba - Source: monngonmoingay
This is a typical sweet soup of the Southern region of Vietnam, with a fatty aroma and taste that is easy to swallow, providing enough energy for half a day. As other Vietnamese che recipes in this article, Che ba ba recipe is extremely easy.
Che ba ba recipe:
- Total time: 1 hour 30 mins ( 1 hour preparation & 30 mins cooking)
- Yield: 4 people
- Category: Dessert
- Nutrition: 329 kcal
Ingredients:
- 1 sweet potato
- 1 corn
- 150g peanuts
- 200g green beans
- 500ml of coconut milk
- 4 pandan leaves
- 50g potato flour
- 250g tapioca flour
- 500g sugar
Steps:
- Preliminary process: Wash the ingredients, soak the potato starch with 500ml water for 15 - 30 minutes, cut the sweet potatoes into squares, and grate the corn kernels.
- Processing beans: Soak green beans and peanuts in water for 30 - 45 minutes, then steam over high heat, let it boil for 10 minutes, and puree half of the green beans.
- Processing sweet potatoes: Boil about 500ml water and while waiting for it to boil, mix the sweet potato cubes with tapioca starch, then pour them into the pot and let boil for about 5 - 7 minutes, leaving them to dry after done.
- Cooking che: In the next part of the Vietnamese che recipes to make Che ba ba, you heat the coconut milk over medium heat and add grated corn when it boils, then add the steamed green beans after 5 minutes and stir well, continue adding the pureed green beans, soaked potato starch and pandan leaves. Cook for about 5 - 7 minutes more, then add the sweet potatoes, peanuts and sugar, continuously stirring.
- Finish: Season to taste and then scoop che into a bowl, can add ice if wanted.
Vietnamese sweet soup or Che is a dish loved by many people because of its countless varieties, which all bring a sweet, cool taste that will blow away the hot weather. These attractive desserts are actually quite simple to make, with short preparation and cooking time, and easily bought ingredients. Hope that the above Vietnamese che recipes will help you get satisfying and mouth watering results.
— Ha Bich
