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Topping off a glass of che thai with coconut milk.
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Chè Thái

Colorful, sweet, refreshing and filled with fun textures only begin to describe my all-time favorite Vietnamese dessert—Chè Thái. Made with jackfruit, lychees, longan, pandan jelly and red rubies, you can taste the Southeast Asian rainbow with this crowd-pleaser dessert.
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Asian Fusion, Thai, Vietnamese
Keyword authentic vietnamese recipe, Che thai, che thai recipe, vietnamese dessert
Prep Time 50 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 10 servings
Calories 364kcal
Author Megan

Equipment

Ingredients

Agar-Agar Jelly

Red Rubies

Pandan Jelly (Cendol)

Coconut Milk

Palm Sugar Simple Syrup

Canned Fruit

Instructions

Agar-Agar jelly

  • In a small saucepan, mix 2 teaspoons agar agar, 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1 3/4 cup water and mix on high until it dissolves and reaches a boil. Once it reaches a boil, pour it into a shallow bowl and set aside until it hardens.
  • Once it hardens, thinly slice into 1/4 inch strips.

Red Rubies

  • Prepare the water chestnuts. In a medium sized bowl, add the diced water chestnuts and red food coloring. Mix until all the pieces are red. Then add the tapioca starch and toss until fully coated.
  • Cook the red rubies. Boil water in a small saucepan. Then add the coated water chestnuts into the boiling water and stir to prevent them from sticking. Boil for about 2-3 minutes until it floats and has puffed out slightly. Then scoop it all out with a slotted spoon or spider strainer and immediately place it in an ice bath for about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside in a small bowl.

Pandan Jelly (Cendol)

  • Mix the batter. In a medium saucepan, mix together the mung bean starch, tapioca starch, rice flour and water until combined. Then add in 1 teaspoon of pandan extract and stir until combined.
  • Cook until thickened. Cook on high heat and continuously stir until it reaches a boil and some pieces begin to cook underneath and small dark translucent pieces come to the top, about 3 minutes. Then turn the heat to low and keep stirring until it is thick, slightly translucent and begins to bubble, about 3 minutes .
  • Mold worms. Using the 1/4 inch circles setting on your mashed potato ricer, quickly while the batter is still hot pour a few scoops into the ricer and squeeze the green worms over a bowl of ice water. Let it steep for about 10 minutes. Drain and aside in a medium bowl.

Coconut Milk

  • Make tapioca slurry. In a small bowl, mix together the tapioca starch and 2 tablespoons of water until combined.
  • Cook the coconut milk. In a medium saucepan, add the tapioca slurry, coconut milk, water, salt and sugar and mix to combine. Heat on medium high heat and stir until thickened. Then, set aside to cool.

Palm Sugar Simple Syrup

  • Make the palm sugar simple syrup. In a small saucepan, heat the palm sugar and 1 cup of water until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Assembly

  • Prepare the fruit. Open all the canned fruit and cut the jackfruit into small strips and thinly slice the toddy palm seeds.
  • Mix together. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sliced sugar jelly, lychee with 2/3 cup of syrup, longan with 2/3 cup of syrup, jackfruit with 2/3 cup of syrup, pineapple jelly jar with all the syrup, coconut jelly jar with all the syrup, coconut strings, and sliced toddy palm seeds.
  • Assemble. In a tall glass, add 1-2 ladles of the fruit mixture, 1 scoop of the red rubies, 1 scoop of green worms, 1/4 cup of the coconut milk, ice and 1-2 tablespoons of palm sugar simple syrup to taste.

Nutrition

Calories: 364kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 81mg | Potassium: 473mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 354IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 149mg | Iron: 3mg