Chè hai màu – Vietnamese two-color drinks
>> Sunday, April 10, 2011
For Delicious Vietnam #12
I have been busy, busy, busy… No time for myself, no time for a decent meal. It’s been insane. I’m travelling out this week, so the recap of Delicious Vietnam #12 might be a bit late. But it’s coming, I promise!
Meanwhile, let’s talk about this lovely dessert - Chè hai màu – two-color drinks. This is a kind of popular Vietnamese desserts, which are very versatile. The ingredients can vary from cooked mung bean, various kinds of tapioca pearls to jellies etc. All are served with sweetened coconut milk, and some crushed ice in summer. I love the look of this dessert. It is surely colorful, cheerful and can be an instant ‘pick me up’. In fact the name of the drinks varies depending on the number of colors of the ingredients – three, and even seven.
Now I didn’t make this dessert from scratch. I simply picked up the two boxes of ingredients from a Vietnamese grocery. The red one, called hạt lựu, is made from water chesnut, sweetened and coated with tapioca starch. The texture is crunchy, and lovely. The green one, called bánh lọt, is cooked mixture of rice flours. It’s almost like pasta, and perhaps some of you would know it by the name chendol. These are flavoured with pandan paste.(Making both of these from scratch is not that hard, but I would only bother to do it after having zillions of sleeps, a few holidays, and one or two drama/movie marathons!)
To eat, prepare the coconut milk sauce by heating coconut milk, and add enough dark brown sugar to your liking. Cool down, and serve with enough hạt lựu and bánh lọt. Add ice if you wish.
I have kept things really simple for this post. Minimal (almost none) styling or set up. I found the two glasses from my MIL’s shed last week. And the flowers? They are blooming in my garden right now even though summer has passed away…
27 comments:
Lovely. My man adores these drinks. Now I see I could make them at home?! A nice project perhaps :)
Heidi xo
Nice post Ang. Does food colorin five it the bright red color? Very simple dessert to prepare at a time when you have a gazillion things to do.
This is so so pretty. I love the bright colour contrast. Somehow, this reminds me of Christmas:)
So unusual and pretty to me..:) The lovely planter is pretty too :)
I was trying to think of what the milk was because for some reason I thought it was coffee (because of the colour). I love the simplicity of coconut milk and bánh lọt, I don't think I've tried hạt lựu before...
beautiful! love all the colours!
Ohh surely I like this! I call it es cendol. Pretty pics, Anh!
Nice, we would love this! I know how to make the red one too, I remember it as a Thai dessert.
Yummo! As much as I love these crazy drinks I'd never think to make them at home
Sounds really exotic to me! all the ingredients other the coconut milk sounds so intriguing and I wish I could taste one of these to see how all of them come together in one cup. So very pretty.
This is like the Chendol dessert that we like in Singapore and Malaysia!
Beautiful! So much better than the coloured drinks I had as a kid, which were pretty much just creaming soda "Shirley Temples" :P
What a fun drink. I just love the bright colors. Thank you for infusing your posts with your kind spirit, your thoughtful words, and your beautiful photographs. Even in the midst of sadness, I find such solace visiting the blogs that I've grown to love this past year. I hope you have a wonderful start to your week, my friend. A big hug from Austin!
I love the soft light in these photos, it really makes the colourful drinks stand out.
how lovely - flowers in the garden, pretty colours, found objects, all you need now is lots of sleep and movies - hope you get a break over easter!
Phew! Hope things calm down a little soon. We all feel that way sometimes. This drink looks quite similar to the Malaysian ais kacang :) I know I'd love it. And it looks so festive in red and green.
Great to catch up today. I know how it is like to be busy and under the pump. :)
Yes yes! Chendol!
Remember to take some rests amidst your busy (travel) schedule, ok? :)
awww these bring back awesome childhood memories!! i like the ones where you add the red bean ...think thats called 3 coloured drink? (my viet is TERRIBLE! lol)
So pretty.I m amazed by how easy such a good looking dessert can be.Anything with coconut-I m in!
Very pretty and reminds of our own chendol. It has the same green "noodles" together with azuki beans. Absolutely delicious!
Life is so hectic, sometimes we need to take some time out for ourself, can't wait until Easter break! I like 'che ba mau' it just sounds right and rolls of the tongue better ;) Simple but still stunning Anh! =)
Chendol is on my list of "exotic" desserts, and a very funky (by Western standards) way with legumes. Hardest part for me is finding fresh pandan leaves. Someday.
Lovely, Anh. Hope life quiets for you soon.
This is like "lok chong" in Thai or "cendol" in Indonesia... but it is definitely more colorful and alluring especially with the addition of red color.
I love Vietnamese desserts. They are healthy and are all colours of the rainbow. simply gorgeous.
I love the colour of these drinks, they sound so simple and refreshing!
Oh, I love this! I used to have this all the time, growing up in Singapore! Lin xx
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