Chè: how to read the twenty-cup glass case

Hanoi’s dessert is not a dessert. Chè is eaten at four in the afternoon, standing or sitting on a stool, between meals — closer in function to an ice cream or a bubble tea than to anything served after dinner.

It is also presented in a way that defeats visitors completely: a glass-fronted case with fifteen or twenty stainless steel trays, each holding something different and none of them labelled in a language you can read.

This is a guide to that case.

What chè actually is

A category, not a dish. The unifying idea is sweetened things suspended in liquid — beans, tubers, jellies, fruit, grains — served either hot, at room temperature, or over crushed ice.

The base is usually one of three: a thin sweet syrup, coconut milk, or a thickened starch broth. Most cups combine several components, and the ordering is largely a matter of pointing.

The ones worth knowing

Chè đỗ đen — black bean. Whole soft black beans in their own dark syrup, over ice. Nutty, not very sweet, deeply refreshing. This is the safest single order and one of the best.

Chè đỗ xanh — mung bean. Paler, smoother, often with a dissolved texture. Milder and slightly more cloying.

Chè thập cẩm — “mixed”, which is a bit of everything: beans, jelly, lotus seed, coconut, ice. The order for the indecisive and a genuinely good way to find out what you like.

Chè bưởi — pomelo. Translucent cubes of candied pomelo pith in a thick clear syrup with mung bean and coconut. Chewy, faintly bitter, unlike anything in a Western dessert vocabulary. The most interesting cup in the case.

Chè khúc bạch — a newer favourite. Cubes of soft almond-milk panna cotta with longan and almond flakes in a clear syrup. Light and very easy to like.

Chè sen long nhãn — lotus seed inside peeled longan, in a clear syrup. A summer speciality; see the summer article. Elegant and expensive by chè standards.

Chè trôi nước / bánh trôi tàu — glutinous rice balls filled with sesame or mung bean in a hot ginger syrup. Served hot, a winter cup, and one of the best things to eat on a cold Hanoi night.

Chè ngô — sweetcorn, thickened with tapioca. Comforting, mild, popular with children.

Tào phớ — silken tofu scooped into curls in jasmine syrup. Technically its own thing rather than a chè, sold at the same counters, and lovely. Ginger syrup in winter, jasmine and ice in summer.

Sữa chua nếp cẩm — tart house yoghurt over fermented black sticky rice. Also not strictly chè; also always at the same counter; also excellent.

What to avoid ordering blind

Chè thái — Thai-style, with jackfruit, palm seed and a lot of coconut milk and condensed milk. Very sweet, very rich, and a full meal. Fine, just know what you are getting.

Anything bright green or bright pink that you cannot identify. It is usually pandan jelly or food colouring and it is the least interesting part of the case.

How to order

The transaction is almost entirely pointing.

“Cho em một cốc chè đỗ đen” — one cup of black bean chè. “Cái này” — this one. (Point.) “Ít đá” — less ice. “Ít đường” — less sugar. Say this one; Hanoi chè runs sweet. “Nóng” / “đá” — hot / iced, for the cups that come both ways.

Chè is served in a plastic or glass cup with a long spoon. You eat it there — most shops have stools — or take it away.

Where to look

The Old Quarter. The classic chè shops are small, deep rooms with the case at the front and stools stretching back. Several have been going for generations and sell twenty-plus varieties.

Hai Bà Trưng and the southern districts. Bigger, newer, aimed at students and office workers. More of the modern cups — khúc bạch, chè thái, yoghurt variations.

Anywhere with a queue at five in the afternoon. Chè is an after-school and after-work food; the crowd tells you everything.

The tell for a good shop: the case is full and the trays are shallow. Deep trays that have not been touched mean slow turnover and beans that have been sitting.

When

Afternoon into late evening, roughly 2pm to 11pm. Chè shops are among the last things open in a Hanoi neighbourhood.

Hot chè — trôi nước, bánh trôi tàu, ginger tào phớ — is a cold-season thing and largely disappears in summer. Iced cups run year-round.

What it costs

15,000–35,000 VND a cup. Nothing in the case costs more than about a dollar fifty.

Building a decent first visit

Order two cups. They are small and this is normal.

A good pairing for a first time:

• Chè đỗ đen — the classic, to calibrate.
• Chè bưởi — the one that will surprise you.

Or in winter:

• Bánh trôi tàu — hot, ginger, sesame.
• Tào phớ nóng — silken tofu in ginger syrup.

If you only do one thing

Walk into an Old Quarter chè shop at five in the afternoon, say “ít đường”, and point at the black bean tray and the pomelo tray.

Sit on the stool. It will cost you a dollar fifty and it is the correct way to spend the gap between lunch and dinner in this city.

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Next: bia hơi — finding a corner that isn’t for tourists.