A refreshing Vietnamese chè dessert with grass jelly, coconut jelly, mung bean paste, sago, and coconut cream served over crushed ice. Vietnam’s most colourful dessert in a glass, layers of jelly, beans, sago, and coconut cream that taste as good as they look.
We just returned from our trip to Hoi An, Vietnam, and among the countless dishes we tried, there was one that completely caught me off guard, chè. I had probably heard the word before, maybe seen it on a menu, but I never actually bothered to find out what it was. That all changed during this trip.
On our first encounter, I was served a tall glass filled with colourful layers, a sweet coconut aroma, and a variety of textures. The next time, I had something completely different, jelly-heavy, with a bouncy bite. Another version featured beans in a sweet soup, while one was topped with chia seeds, looking like something straight out of a modern health café. My ignorance had me thinking they were all the same dessert, but in reality, I had been sampling a whole family of desserts without realising it.
What Exactly Is Chè?
Chè (pronounced cheh) isn’t just one dish, it’s an entire category of Vietnamese sweet treats. These can be served hot or cold, in bowls, glasses, or even takeaway plastic cups from street vendors. The ingredients vary wildly, but common elements include beans, jellies, glutinous rice, fruits, and coconut milk.
The origins of chè can be traced to Indigenous Vietnamese traditions, later enriched by Chinese influences. The northern style often leans towards simple, warm, bean-based varieties, while the southern style embraces vibrant colours, chilled versions, and generous lashings of coconut cream.
The Many Faces of Chè
Some of the most popular varieties include:
Chè Ba Màu – The famous “three-colour dessert” made with mung beans, red beans, pandan jelly, and coconut milk.
Chè Chuối – Warm banana and tapioca pudding in coconut milk.
Chè Trôi Nước – Glutinous rice balls with mung bean paste, floating in sweet ginger syrup.
Chè Thái – A fruit-and-jelly coconut milk dessert inspired by Thailand.
Chè Bưởi – A pomelo and mung bean dessert with chewy tapioca.
Chè Khoai Môn – Earthy taro pudding with sticky rice and pandan.
Each one offers a completely different experience, from warm and comforting to icy and refreshing.
A Southeast Asian Family of Desserts
Chè shares its DNA with other Southeast Asian favourites like Malaysia’s cendol, the Philippines’ halo-halo, and Thailand’s tub tim grob. They all celebrate the same key elements: tropical fruits, beans, coconut cream, and shaved ice. It’s a dessert genre that’s not just about taste, but also about texture and visual appeal.
Making Chè Thập Cẩm at Home
After falling in love with chè during our travels, I decided to make my own version at home. Since we’ve been enjoying a lot of jelly-based varieties, I opted for Chè Thập Cẩm (literally “mixed chè”), a vibrant mix of grass jelly, coconut jelly, agar jelly, sugar palm fruit, sago pearls, mung bean paste, and chia seeds, all topped with creamy coconut milk and crushed ice.
This combination is wonderfully refreshing, texturally playful, and perfect for a hot day. The mung bean paste gives it a soft sweetness, the jellies add bounce, the chia seeds bring a subtle crunch, and the coconut cream ties it all together.
Serving Tips
While chè is traditionally enjoyed as a casual street dessert, you can easily make it look more elegant for guests by serving it in tall glasses or wide dessert bowls. A drizzle of pandan syrup or a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds can take it up a notch.
The beauty of chè is its adaptability, once you’ve mastered the base, you can mix and match ingredients to your heart’s content. Swap mung bean paste for taro, add more fruits, or throw in some red beans for variety.
Mix coconut cream, condensed milk, and salt in a bowl. Chill until ready to use.
Boil in plenty of water until translucent (about 10–15 minutes). Drain and rinse in cold water.
Mix with water and leave for 10 minutes until gelled.
In each glass or bowl, place crushed ice, mung bean paste at the bottom. Layer grass jelly, coconut jelly, agar jelly, sugar palm, sago, and chia seeds.
Top coconut cream mixture.
Stir gently before eating to combine flavours and textures.
Wow, this is such an intriguing dessert. But I am unfamiliar with nearly half of the ingredients, so it’s hard to tell whether it’s my kind of treat. So, for now, I’ll appreciate the complexity of flavours and the beautiful presentation :)
I miss grass jelly! That’s a must-have during hot humid summer season.
Yeah, one of our fave desserts
Wow, this is such an intriguing dessert. But I am unfamiliar with nearly half of the ingredients, so it’s hard to tell whether it’s my kind of treat. So, for now, I’ll appreciate the complexity of flavours and the beautiful presentation :)
I am always intrigued by your dessert offerings, Raymund. They are so different and intriguing (to steal Ben’s word).