Over the years, several people have inquired about how to make che Thai, a crazy looking sweet soup comprised of various kinds of tropical fruits, tapioca noodles, jellies, and coconut milk. I always half-heartedly sourced recipes for them because frankly, the time I tried that stuff out at a Viet Tet Festival, it was just awful.
A tall plastic glass filled with lots of ice, a few bits of jackfruit and tons of half-and-half. I didn't get what all the fuss was about. Plus, I don't do well with dairy, if you know what I mean. The experience of standing in the damp, wintry cold at the county
fairgrounds trying to enjoy what everyone else seemed to relish, all
the while with my stomach going bezerk was no way to celebrate the new year. It also kept me away from che Thai for years. Whenever I stared into the cold case at a Viet deli at the seemingly vast array of che (pronounced "cheh") sweet snack options, my eyes glossed over the little plastic cups containing che Thai.
This last Tuesday, I went to lunch at a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese food court at the Lion Plaza (corner of Tully and King) in San Jose, California. After a bowl of rice soup with duck and cabbage salad, I wandered over to the Dakao stall where the woman was dishing up a bunch of different kinds of che to a line of customers. (Dakao is well known for its preparations of these sweet snacks that beloved by Vietnamese people.)
I don't know what overcame me, maybe it was being around my people in the food court, or all the psychedelic colors at che vendor's stall -- bright green tapioca strands, chopped up fruits, bananas suspended in a tapioca coconut milk broth, white sticky rice dumplings in amber sugar syrup. I found myself ordering chè Thái.
"Do you want che like Thai tra tea or the sweet snack che?" the vendor asked.
"I want the che the sweet snack," I replied, remembering that in the often ludicrous world known as the Vietnamese language, chè can mean tea (which also goes by tra) and a sweet snack.
The woman quickly went to work buzzing around the cafeteria/ice cream parlor-like set up. From her various bins and half pans, she gathered the ingredients for che Thai. It looked like a parfait in a large plastic cup. A spoon of ruby red tapioca bits went in first, followed by a few longish green strands of tapioca noodles, pieces of yellow jackfruit, and chunks translucent white toddy palm seed. Then she disappeared into the back kitchen and emerged with some lychees and one half sapote in the cup. (Note that all of the tropical fruits came from cans. )
Back at her counter, she added a small ladle of simple syrup and a few spoonfuls of coconut milk. A mound of shaved ice crowned the cup. To finish the packaging, she stuck a huge round straw down the middle along with a plastic spoon so I could choose to scoop or suck up the concoction, and then she capped the cup with domed plastic like, like a Starbucks Frappucino. The cost was $3.50, which is a good thing because it signals that it's a high-class version.
I went outside into the heat and tried it out. Not bad, I thought. It was crazy/cheery looking, full of chewy, soft, crunchy textures and enveloped by the slight richness of the coconut milk. I admit it. It was much better than the nightmare I tasted years earlier. Lacking tons of dairy, my stomach didn't react either. How nice.
So what's with the half-and-half and milk that I'd seen at the delis and Tet festival and in the online chè Thái recipes? My guess is that Vietnamese people were thinking that somehow, this Thai-style sweet soup was take on Thai ice tea or coffee in which dairy is mixed in. This is the confusion between che and tra! Someone probably started out using the half-and-half and found that it was cost effective and produced an okay snack that customers bought up. From there, many others followed suit. Vietnamese people often act like lemmings when it comes to food trends.
I went home and researched in my cookbook library. As it turns out, che Thai is a Vietnamese riff on a popular Thai sweet snack called tap tim krop that features pomegranate juice, water chestnuts, tapioca, and coconut milk. In David Thompson's Thai Food, there's a recipe for tap tim krop that's translated as Rubies. The diced fresh water chestnuts are coated with a pomegranate red layer of tapioca and then poached to resemble jewels, which are eventually floated in a sea of coconut milk and ice. The tasty Viet bastardization comes into play a bit in pastry chef Pichet Ong's version in The Sweet Spot, which he calls Thai Jewels and Fruits on Crushed Coconut Ice. Ong has the jackfruit, toddy palm and keeps the water chestnuts and red coloring. He adds fresh payapa cubes.
Che Thai is a new and recent entrant into the Vietnamese repertoire, and given it's popularity, it's high time I put together a recipe for it. Here you go!
Jackfruit, Toddy Palm Seed, Pomegranate and Coconut Sweet Soup (Chè Thái)
Like the Dakao vendor, you can put whatever kind of tropical fruits into the mix. Typically, there's jackfruit, toddy palm seed (comes from the palm that yields palm sugar), and longans. If you don't have them, that's okay. If you can find a can that combines jackfruit and toddy palm seed, that's extremely convenient. Otherwise, you can always buy cans of each and omit the grass jelly.
As a nod to the Thai original, I use fresh pomegranate seeds, which
were poorly imitated by the bland red tapioca used by the vendor. (It's
pomegranate season now and my neighbor has a tree!) If you don't have pomegranate, consider diced strawberries for a red, jewel- like touch. Or, see the instructions below on how to make Thai Rubies.
The use of grass jelly adds an interesting tea-like quality. It's not part of the Thai original, but once you stir things up, the dark jelly's brown-black liquid colors the concoction like tea. Perhaps that's why some Viet cooks add it to underscore the Thai tea concept. I like the slightly bitter-grassy note, which makes chè Thái seem extra refreshing and energizing. Asian jellies come in a variety of colors (yellow, white, green, ebony) so choose your favorite.
You need some chewy fun so that's the reason for the tapioca noodles.
Normally I make my own but since this chè is nothing more than opening
a bunch of cans, I opted for the commercially produced tapioca, which
are zig-zag shaped. They're sold in plastic bags for under a $1 and are usually near the dried beans at Asian markets.
The flavors of this sweet soup is rather nuanced so I suggest not adding ice. Eating it straight is a more intense experience. If you like things nice and cold, just thoroughly chill the fruits and jelly.
Serves 6
⅔ cup dried tapioca strands/shreds
1 can toddy palm seed and jackfruit in syrup, undrained
1 can longan in syrup, drained
1 can grass jelly, any flavor
½ cup fresh pomegranate seeds (1 small pomegranate) or Thai Rubies (see below)
1 ¼ cups Coconut Dessert Sauce (see below)
Crushed or shaved ice, optional
1. Put the tapioca strands in a bowl and cover with water. Set aside to soak for 30 minutes.
2. Drain and put the strands in a small saucepan and add enough water to cover by 1 ½ inches. Bring to a boil and cook the strands until they are soft to the bite, about 25 minutes. They will look jewel-like clear in about 10 minutes but will still be chewy. Drain the strands and transfer them to a bowl of water to stop their cooking and to keep them from sticking together. Keep at room temperature for up to 4 hours or refrigerate for longer keeping.
3. Empty the jackfruit and toddy palm, along with their canning syrup, into a bowl or plastic container. Inspect the fruit and cut up any unusually large pieces into bite-size pieces.
4. Cut each longan in half lengthwise and add it to the other fruits.
5. Invert and shake the can of grass jelly to remove the jelly. (It may remind you of cranberry jelly for the holidays.) Slice the grass jelly into ½-inch-thick rounds. Then cut each round into ½-inch cubes. Transfer the cut jelly to a bowl or plastic container.
6. For each serving, put some cut grass jelly at the bottom of a glass or bowl. Add some of the fruit and then some of the tapioca strands. Drizzle on some coconut dessert sauce. If you'd like, top with crushed or shaved ice.
Coconut Dessert Sauce
1 cup coconut milk, canned or freshly made
2 pinches of salt
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 /2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 teaspoons water
¼ teaspoon pandan or vanilla extract (optional)
1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the coconut milk, salt, sugar, and water. Place over medium heat and bring to a near simmer, lowering the heat if the coconut milk spews or pops. Give the cornstarch mixture a good stir and add it to the sauce, mixing well. Cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds, or until the sauce thickens, then remove from the heat. Stir in the extract.
2. Let the sauce cool, uncovered, to concentrate the flavors before serving. It will keep in a tightly capped container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Makes about 1 ¼ cups.
Thai Rubies
I've not tried this out myself, but if I wanted to make the Thai
rubies, I'd combine Thompson and Ong's approaches and do this. According to Tuty on 10/29/07, you can substitute jicama for the fresh water chestnuts, which can be hard to find.
½ cup peeled fresh water chestnuts, cut into ¼-inch dice
½ cup pomegranate juice or grenadine
1 cup tapioca starch
Soak the water chestnuts with the pomegranate juice overnight. Drain and discard the juice.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Combine the the water chestnuts and tapioca starch in a bowl and toss to coat. Transfer to a mesh strainer and shake/tap to remove excess tapioca starch and prevent clumping.
Add the coated water chestnuts to the boiling water and cook, stirring constantly, until they float to the top and are clear, about 5 minutes. Drain, transfer to a bowl of ice water and allow to cool completely. Drain before using or refrigerate until ready to use.
Related Information:
What is Chè?
If you've ever bought a sandwich from a Vietnamese deli, you've encountered displays of che sweet soups atop counters and inside cold cases. They're the most commonly eaten Vietnamese sweet that's enjoyed as a snack or part of a dessert spread.
Viet cooks simmered beans, fruits, seeds, rice, or vegetables with sugar
to create che that are thick and creamy like a pudding, light and
delicate like a consommé, or cool and layered with other ingredients
like a parfait. Some sweet soups are eaten alone, while others are
paired with xôi (sticky rice dishes).
In Vietnam and in Viet communities abroad there are people who specialize in chè. An itinerant street vendor may make a living from one or two types. A che parlor offers a broad range. Visiting one is like going to an ice cream parlor. Put in an order and the person behind the counter assembles it right before your eyes, ladling bits of this and that from a vast assortment of little containers. (The photo above is of a che vendor at the Vancouver night market.)
But you needn't go out for it. Tons of home cooks whip up che. They're relatively simple to make and don't require fancy equipment or expensive ingredients, generally take little time, and keep for days.
For another recipe, see Shaved Ice Sundays blog.
holybasil says
My mom has been making this for a long time - it's what people often ask her to bring for potlucks. In fact, she'll be making it for us it this week during her visit. Hers is similar to the one you describe from David Thompson's book - she tries to make these mock pomegranate seeds (hạt lựu) that way with diced water chestnuts coated in red tapicoa - though they end up looking more like jelly raspberries somehow.
I've always wondered about the use of half 'n half - though my mom uses MochaMi
Andrea Nguyen says
Holy Cow Holy Basil -- Mocha Mix? Coconut milk isn't bad on your tummy unless you eat tons of it. Mock-pomegranate raspberry jellies sound adorable.
Donna says
Wow finally, a name for the sweet stuff I got from this Thai/Vietnamese food to go place. I've been pointing fingers (if somebody just got them and eating with big smile) and gesturing what I want... thank you for bringing it to the light. All versions are yummy (cold ones and hot ones with coconut milk) and I tried to make my own couple times already. I would chop n boiled a small handful of taro and sweet potato in 1cm cubes and mix it in with the boiled zig zag colored tapioca noodle small ta
Robyn says
I'm a recent convert to che and its other SE Asian cousins (halo halo, cendol, ais kacang, etc.). But what really caught my eye in this post was your opener: 'bowl of rice soup with duck and cabbage salad'. Chao vit, right?
I still dream of a Saigon chao vit served in a couple of shops across the river -- rich rice soup, duck on the side, herby salad on the side, and the most wonderfully complex dipping sauce of (I'm guessing) lemongrass, ginger, chilies, sesame oil, and ???? This is what I'll b
Andrea Nguyen says
Robyn, I'll have to put something together for you...A.
Simon Bao says
Andrea, I was really stunned to read about people putting half'n'half into any kind of Che. Thankfully, I've never seen anyone do that here. Coconut milk, sure, but not any real dairy products. (Amen!)
I'm not sure about the Grass Jelly. For Viets and other SE Asians, sure, yes... but have you ever watched the expression on the faces of Americans trying it for the first time?
Anyway, it's a very nice recipe, heavy on the fruit and light on the starches, and the pomegranate seeds look very c
Robyn says
OK Andrea, I'll be waiting...
C'mon Simon-not *all* us Americans are adverse to grass jelly and other edible Asian 'oddities'. 😉
Binh says
This comment is for the sake of authenticity only. Until proven wrong, I can confidently say that this is a purely American-Vietnamese concoction.
In Vietnam, this dish is made with diced agar-agar jelly, tapioca strands, and large tapioca-like rubies. Comes with coconut milk of course. The name is "xương xa hột lựu" in Vietnamese with the first part "xương xa" meaning clear agar-agar jelly and the second part "hột lựu" meaning pomegranate seeds. As pomegranate is rather hard to find
Binh says
On the topic of Asian jelly, the Vietnamese classify them as:
- xương xa/thạch: clear jelly, made from agar-agar powder or strand/sheet
- xương xâm/xương sâm: green jelly, made from a leaf
- xương xáo/thạch đen: black jelly, made from a plant/leaf (according to Google search, Mesona Chinesis Benth)
Here's an article on green jelly making in Thailand
http://realthai.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html
Binh says
Ooh, look, more comments. Anyway, "Chè Thái" also mean green tea from Thái Nguyên. If I remember correctly, "chè" is sweet snack to the Southerners, and tea to the Northerners, specifically green tea (may even be non-oxidized tea leafs -- really green then). They (Northerners) also drink "chè" in bowls instead of in cups as other kind of tea.
Anonymous says
Hi Andrea,
most recipes for chè lạnh such as sương sa hột lựu, chè ba màu, chè thai, etc... usually do not contain coconut milk because coconut milk tends to clump up when it's chilled. Therefore, half and half, cream, or even coffee creamers are used in place of the coconut milk to avoid the problem.
There's a large Thai Buddhist temple in L.A. that has a food fair every weekend. One of the desserts offered is Chè Thái. Their version includes corn and a hint of mail flower (hoa
Andrea Nguyen says
Binh,
Thanks for the back story and link to Austin Bush's posting on how grass jelly is made. While the Thai version I've seen of this chè has no fruit, I find it strange that there's a canned combination of jackfruit and toddy palm. Chaokoh, a leading producer of coconut milk, has a new coconut cream out and on the label is a bowl of chè Thái containing green and red rubies made of water chestnut and thin pieces of jackfruit. A dish like this is perhaps bi-directional. It may have been creat
Serge Lescouarnec says
Mentioned your site (and book) and my relative ignorance of Vietnamese food bits on 'Serge the Concierge' today.
Here is the link
http://www.sergetheconcierge.com/2007/10/sweet-soup-and-.html
Serge
'The French Guy from New Jersey'
Jacob Nguyen says
"Chè can mean tea (which also goes by tra) and a sweet snack". No dude, you totally are interpreting incorrectly and got lost in translation. Chè means dessert and TRA is exactly the word for Tea...like Tra Nong means HOT TEA, those are both different words and meanings. So if you say TRA, you are not talking about Chè in anyway whatsoever. TRA is pronounced like "CHA" or the A in CAT.
So next time you go, just let them know you want the Che as in Vietnamese dessert drink. Not TRA as in Tea.
Andrea Nguyen says
Sorry Jacob, it IS the case that chè has a dual meaning in the Vietnamese language. For instance, che tuoi are fresh tea leaves. Additionally, in 2005 the Viet Nam Tea Association (Vitas) registered a national tea trademark called "Che Viet Nam."
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=04ECO030805
Vietnamese is an unusual language full of surprises. Here's a piece on Vietnamese tea on the main Viet World Kitchen site:
http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/features/nuvoitea.htm
David Le says
Actually you are both correct, Chè and Trà both can be used. Chè was used in the North (bấc) while Trà (Nam) is used in the South. I know this because I've lived in both Hanoi and Saigon, as well as stayed in Little Saigon.
Based on the dictionary, it says this:
trà
noun
* tea, tea-plant
chè
noun
* Tea
o hái chè
to pluck tea leaves
o pha chè
to make tea
* Sweetened porridge (made of glutinous rice, bean..)
Note: if you don't use the marks you are always referring to another word :):
c
Andrea Nguyen says
David,
Thanks for the clarification, and for tra the dictionary so that we don't che the meanings of chè. 😉
David Le says
After coming back from late night Pho tonight, we also have to keep in mind that Chè does not always translate to tea for certain things. Such as Chè Thai (referring to the coconut milk dessert) & Tra Thai which refers to the Thai Iced Tea drink, so in that sense Chè is not used to describe the Tea drink.
Also I was doing some more research about Vietnamese Chè (coconut milk) drink and this idea may have been taken from the Malaysian drink. It's called Chendol...lol maybe the Vietnamese saw
Hoai-Huong says
this message is for Binh: I think what you are thinking of is Che Ba Mau not Che Thai.
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jenny says
Andrea,
I agree that it's odd that coconut milk isn't used because it is such a huge part of SEA che and desserts. But I'm actually allergic to coconuts myself so when making che, I tend to use dairy products. In my family, we use coffeemate mixed with a simple syrup because it's what I can eat. And we generally just use the fruit and the tapioca-ed water chestnuts. With some avocado bits. It's very yummy.
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At my grandfather's home had a tree of this strange fruit and after they sold that old house I did not get over this delicious fruit.
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Thank you for sharing the Coconut Dessert Sauce recipe.
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You should start with simple fruits like bananas and apples, or any other fruit that is classified as B/D (beginner foods). The reason you should start with these particular ones are because they are virtually hypoallergenic and carry a very low risk of your child having an allergic reaction. You should delay introducing citrus fruits and strawberries as these are more prone to causing allergic reactions.
Tapioca Pearls says
Thanks for this recipe. I have always wanted to find a different use for tapioca.
Mr. Cooking Grill says
You brought some nice points there. i did a search and found that mostly people gave u compliments.
marlon says
Chè means dessert and TRA is exactly the word for Tea...like Tra Nong means HOT TEA, those are both different words and meanings.
Bao Thuy says
Regarding the use of half-and-half in place of coconut milk, my parents' (and their friends') reason for it was that they thought it would be lower in cholesterol than coconut milk. This is based on false information they have gotten from various sources which have scared many away from using coconut milk in moderation and disregarded the health benefits of it. And with the huge increase in the cost of coconut milk over the past few years, I agree that it's also an economical decision for some
Casey says
Andrea,
In this recipe and blog, you mention that you would make your own tapioca noodles / strands.
Is there a recipe for it here on your website or any of your exceptional cookbooks? If so, which one because I have yet to find the recipe in the three (3) that I bought.
I have a general idea but unclear as to how to cook them.
Andrea Nguyen says
Hi Casey, Thanks for asking. There's a recipe for the noodles in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen on page 288 of the Adzuki Been, Tapioca Noodle and Coconut Sweet Soup. I hope it delivers what you're looking for!
A.