Viva la Che -eating soup for dessert

On my way to the Argyle 'El' stop this morning, I stopped at Hong Xuong Bakery on Argyle for another perspective on che. I chose black eyed pea or Che Dau for today's trial. I think I may have found my favorite, there are about ten varieties to try, but the nice lady at the counter insisted I try the taro root version tomorrow. Previously I have tried sweety corn [sic], which is actually a bit like hominy rather than sweet corn. I have also tried Che Thai which is cloyingly sweet. Most of the che have some element of unctuous coconut milk.

Che are the ubiquitous sweet desserts sold all over southern Vietnam, but rarely found in the north. Normally, che consist of various combinations of tapioca, beans, sweetened coconut milk, fresh fruit and sugar. Che is a distinctly Vietnamese sweet, a cross between a pudding and a drink, although it most likely has its roots in Chinese dessert soups. Sometimes served in a bowl like a cold soup, it can also be layered in tall glasses for maximum technicolor effect.

Che is based on a myriad of sweet liquids. Depending on region and personal taste, it might be made with thick coconut milk, thin ginger tea, or sweet red bean soup. At Hong Xuong, in the sliding door cooler, you will see shelves of che on display, chilled behind glass. Some of these are set quite firm like a pudding. They are fairly inexpensive, so you can try two or three or maybe even all twelve without going out on a limb. I believe you can ask for a custom made at Hong Xoung, or if not there then elsewhere on Agryle. The fun, then, is in what you want added to your glass. Just a few of the stir-ins you can choose from: lotus seeds, seaweed strips, corn (each kernel sliced thinly into paper-thin rounds!), dried longans, agar-agar confetti, tapioca, lychee, or basil seeds.

Foodwriter Thy Tran from San Francisco at her website http://www.wanderingspoon.com writes "the Vietnamese enjoy sweet bean soups as snacks. The whole class is known as che, but they each have a specific name that usually reveals the color of the bean: che dau den (black bean), che dau trang ("white bean," or what we know here as black-eyed peas), even che dau xanh ("green beans," referring to the green covering on mung beans). Coconut milk, lotus seeds, taro root, tapioca, even crunchy seaweed are common additions. Western Vietnamese restaurants sometimes offer them as dessert, but they're really meant for snacking, which South East Asians love to do. You can serve che warm or chilled."

Thy adds, "Interestingly, the idea of using beans in savory dishes (other than sprouts) is not as natural for most Vietnamese people. Just like when I told my family, while sipping artichoke tea in Saigon, that in the States we serve the whole vegetable as a delicacy, they were horrified."

Quite frankly, on the train ride in this morning I began thinking about how wholesome and nutritious this snack is compared to our typical snacks. Legumes have quite a bit of protein and fiber, the sugar and the fat laden coconut milk are a bit over the top in some varieties, but, on the whole, probably not a bad dish to add to substantial snacking. Che certainly beats out refined flour and sugar with who knows what else in our typical snack.

I say "Viva la Che."


Hong Xuong Bakery
1139 West Argyle
(773) 878-2888

thank you so much for this post - i was in ba le the other day getting a sandwich, and wondered what those cups were in the refrigerated case... now i am inspired to start sampling them.

Feel impelled to mention that BaLe serves a special che on weekends only that was recommended to me by the proprietress (I assume she was part of management -- she said "I sell the most of this [type of che]). It has the grooviest coloring and resembles the Italian flag -- green, white, and red.

It's called che thai and has jackfruit, water chestnuts gelatinized in tapioca starch, longans, and the requisite coconut milk. The sweetness of the coconut is offset by the slightly sour taste of the jackfruit(?) and the longans provide a nice chewy texture. Colors are derived from food coloring. Really yummy stuff. Try to nab some before they sell out.

Haven't seen this at Hong Xuong. I must confess that when Hong Xuong first opened, I really wanted them to succeed but was slightly off-put by the erratic opening/closing times and the sometimes slightly stale offerings. I would nose around some of the fried breads and steamed buns they had on offer, and my conversations with the counter people grew increasingly apologetic as I turned down item after item suspecting that they had sat out a tad too long.

Titus,

I was also off-put by the offerings at Hong Xuong at first and I agree with your assessment. THey have smoothed things out quite a bit, yet they still have troubles with the second hand refrigerated case they bought.

Hong Xoung also has Che Thai, which they will mix for you to order.

I will try Ba Le Che Thai one of these weekends soon.

pd

I'm am not that great a fan of ba Le's che (thanks for alerting me to the proper term peter, I always just referred to them as those colorful dessert thingies, that have a 50% chance of being good)

the green in the che titus described, and in other che is from pandanus or screwpine leaf. I like huong xuong's che better, especially the white corn one ppeter described, but ba le does make an interesting version with pandanus, and corn niblets

Last night I stopped at Ba Le on the way home. The refrigerated case now lists both the Vietnamese and translated names of the Che. Although helpful, they are not quite as good as the lables on the product at Hong Xuong, some of the Che were on the wrongly marked shelves.

50% is accurate, I picked the coffe-flavored jello, and corn with cocconut. I would have guessed the coffee would be better, but was wrong.

The texture was a bit to dry and tough, like jellow left to dry out and the coffee flavor was almost non-existent, unlike the strong Vietnamese coffee flavor I was expecting.

On the other hand, the corn, which had a strange green color (maybe pandus, maybe not) was quite delicious, with a heavy layer of cocconut cream (bad description here, but) like really sweet creamed corn. This corn was yellow sweet corn, rather than the almost hominy-like style of the sweety corn Che.

Oh well.....I'll try some more.

The pork chop and shrimp on rice at New Saigon was quite delicious also. I still need the proprietor to tone it down a bit. Even though I have been there about 4 times in the past two weeks, he keeps trying to "white" me into ordering tourist food.

pd

I'd have to admit to a case of looking before I leapt. I re-visited Hong Xuong over the weekend largely on the strength of your post and it was looking a lot better. They had some saran-wrapped dumplings on the counter that I hadn't seen before, one obviously a potsticker, and another variant wrapped in bean curd skin and pan fried(?). It had an intriguing greenish cast lent by some dark vegetable. I had just gobbled a bowl of noodles from Double Happiness so I resisted temptation, but these new offerings bear investigation.

Hong Xuong is still offering fruit smoothies/bubble teas despite the fact that the total number of shops offering these seemed to have declined in number. I've ordered the watermelon there in the past as Tank Noodle is typically out of that particular flavor, although Tank makes a very good durian and papaya (everyone seems to stock durian and avocado -- they're the standbys). Nothing like slurping down icy chunks of fruit after a long bike ride. I like the coconut at Hong Xuong as well, but they do add more sugar than elsewhere.

Next door, at Chui Quon, they've started offering two new dumplings, chive and taro which I've noticed on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. They're wrapped in translucent tapioca/wheat starch skins, the same type used in fun gor and ha gow. I don't think the taro flavor fully comes through but the chive ones have water chestnut, chunks of garlic, ground pork, and of course, chive. The latter absolutely reek and have garnered me many an nasty stare on the ride into work on the Red line. They are nevertheless, very good and beat the ones I've had at Thai Pastry.

BTW, I realize in re-reading your post that you thought che thai to be inordinately sweet. Sorry, skimming memoranda is a bad habit I picked up at work. And now, I see Zim has chimed in (everyone must be having a slow work day). Zim, are you sure that the green is derived from screwpine? This is a vivid, glowing green, reminiscent of lime jello. Cheers.

Am I sure its Pandanus?

I don't know. Both the folks at Ba Le and Huong Xuong have told me that it was the cause of bright green coloring in the dessert cups. Having never noticed a huge pandanus taste kick, I couldn't guarantee it. I also woldn't be suprised if other means are used to "emphasize" the pandanus green

Here is a lovely photo of the item(s) in question.

E.M.