Guest post by Anders Palm, a Swedish internet enthusiast in Vietnam.
Chè = Vietnamese sweet soup, which includes a range of different desserts. Many of them are made with green beans or black beans and jelly, but others are made with just fruit, nuts and coconut milk. Chè is popular as dessert or an afternoon snack and is mostly sold by street vendors. I decided to try out 3 popular places to have chè in central Ho Chi Minh City.
Bé Chè
Bé Chè is like a street vendor, just that it is located inside the food and drinks area of Ben Thanh Market. It is a well-known fact that tourists go to this market to shop, but the locals go there to eat. This stall is well visited by both groups though, and the manager speaks English very well. You can choose from different sweet soups and jellies here, most popular is the chè chuối, which is banana sweet soup with coconut milk. It was very delicious. I also tried the chè ba màu, which means three color sweet soup and is a layered sweet soup with jelly, beans and coconut milk. Also very tasty.
Bé Chè: Stall 1154, Bến Thành Market, Lê Thánh Tôn, D. 1
Chè Minh Khai
Chè Minh Khai is a small basic restaurant located in a large alleyway off Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai street. I had the chè thưng which is a mixed sweet soup with several ingredients, mine had peanuts, beans, taro, jelly and coconut milk. I did not enjoy it so much as I found that there were too many different textures and flavors mixed together for my taste.
Chè Minh Khai 18A/10/A1 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, D. 1
Chè Võ Văn Tần
Chè Võ Văn Tần is a true street vendor, the kind which has to quickly pack up and leave if the police shows up as they do not have a permit to occupy the sidewalk. Luckily they have managed to stay around for quite some time. They open up as soon as it gets dark around 5pm every day and sell until they run out. I tried chè thưng again, and this time I was not disappointed, the flavors were much more balanced and the cassava, beans and coconut milk created a terrific experience.
Chè Võ Văn Tần 241 Võ Văn Tần, D. 3
Vietnam720.info
Some Spots for ""Che"" (sweet soup) in Sai Gon
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