Chè
Chè
Sweet beans, coconut milk, ice — Vietnamese dessert soup. Not a smoothie. Not a single official recipe.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Chè.
0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Rest
- 1 hr
- Total
- 1 hr 50 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Chè is a family of sweet soups and spoon desserts: mung bean, red bean, lotus seed, jelly, fruit, coconut milk, crushed ice. This is a simple chè đậu xanh — mung bean, coconut, a little sugar, ice. It should be lightly sweet, not syrup. Serve in glasses with a long spoon. Chè đậu xanh is the simple glass: simmer mung beans until soft, sweeten lightly, loosen with coconut milk, and pour over ice. A pinch of salt in the coconut stops it tasting flat. It should be lightly sweet, not syrup. Long spoon, tall glass. Other chè add red bean, lotus seed, jelly or fruit; we are writing one honest mung-and-coconut version, not a twenty-topping circus. Serve cold.
Ingredients
- Mung beans150 g
- Coconut milk250 ml
- Sugar50 g
- Pandan (optional)1 leaf
- Ice200 g
- Salt1 pinch
- Water600 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Soak mung beans 1 hour. Simmer in water with pandan if you have it until very soft, 25–35 minutes. Mash half of them.
35 minStep 2
Stir in sugar, salt and coconut milk. Cool.
5 minStep 3
Glasses, crushed ice, the chè. It should be cool, lightly sweet, a bit sloppy.
3 min
Adapt this recipe
The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 10 October.
Substitutions
Mung bean → Red beans
Chè đậu đỏ. Same coconut, same ice.
Tips
- A spoon of cooked sticky rice in the glass is chè đậu xanh nếp.
- Do not boil the coconut milk hard or it splits.
History & culture
Afternoon snack and after-dinner cooler. Every stall has a house mix. We are writing one honest glass, not a 20-topping circus. Afternoon snack and after-dinner cooler across Vietnam. Stalls keep a house mix; homes keep a pot in the fridge. It is a spoon dessert you drink. Kids order the sweeter glasses. You can hold back the sugar. That is still chè.
Sweet bean soups sit across East and Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese glass with ice is the local habit. Sweet bean soups sit across East and Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese glass with ice and coconut is the local habit. You are cooking beans, sweetening them, and cooling them. That is the method. The ice is climate and preference, not a cocktail garnish.
Regional variation
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips — not a chatbot.
How long does Chè take?
1 hr 50 min all in — 10 min prep, 40 min cook, 1 hr rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 glasses. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegan, Dairy-free, Gluten-free.
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Saucepan.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 pinch.
How much sugar?
50 g of Sugar.
What can I use instead?
Mung bean → Red beans. Chè đậu đỏ. Same coconut, same ice.
Any tips from this recipe?
A spoon of cooked sticky rice in the glass is chè đậu xanh nếp. Do not boil the coconut milk hard or it splits.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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