Recipe

A Vietnamese Dessert So Easy You Can Make It Half Asleep

By Jenny Nguyen at Miami of Ohio

Ever find yourself up at 2 am craving something sweet, but know you would feel super guilty if you indulged in something heavy like ice cream, cookies, or even a cupcake? Also it's 2 am, who has the energy to start baking? I've got the solution for you: Chè Thái.

Now, you may be thinking, "what the heck is that?" It is a Vietnamese dessert that is super easy to make and doesn't require much effort. Just some chopping and pouring and you're all ready to go.

To make it even easier, you can make this during the day in a big batch, pour the Half and Half into all of the fruits and refrigerate the whole thing, all that is left to do in the middle of the night is to scoop it into a bowl or cup and enjoy. 

All of these ingredients are personal preference—you can use whatever fruits and jellies you can find and as much as you would like, some like a bigger half and half ratio than others. 

Chè Thái

  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 25 mins
  • Servings: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 can jackfruit
  • 1 can longan
  • 1 can grass jelly
  • 1 jar coconut jelly
  • 1 quart half and half
  • 1 cup tapioca pearls optional
  • Red food coloring optional
  • Ice optional

Jenny Nguyen

Step 1

Boil a pot of water enough to cover the tapioca pearls. If you do not wish to have tapioca pearls in your Chè Thái then skip this step.

Jenny Nguyen

Step 2

Pour about 1 cup of tapioca pearls into a bowl and add red food coloring if you would like to make the dessert more colorful.

Jenny Nguyen

Step 3

Mix the red food coloring in thoroughly and evenly.

Jenny Nguyen

Step 4

Pour in the tapioca pearls in the boiling water and let it cook until the pearls are soft (about 10 minutes give or take).

Jenny Nguyen

Step 5

Using a strainer, drain the water out and put the pearls into a bowl. They will be very sticky. (These can be made before hand and refrigerated for whenever needed.)

Jenny Nguyen

Step 6

Cut the jackfruit into thin slices. Then place it into a container along with the juice from the can.

Jenny Nguyen

Step 7

Cut the longans in half or in fourths depending on how big you would like the pieces. Then place it into a container along with the juice from the can.

Jenny Nguyen

Step 8

Cut the grass jelly into cubes (be very careful, this is very slippery right out of the can). Then put this into a container.

Jenny Nguyen

Step 9

Gather all of the ingredients and start assembling.

Jenny Nguyen

Step 10

Scoop the grass jelly into the cup, then the longan, then the coconut jelly, then the jackfruit, and finally the tapioca pearls (if you chose to use them). Add ice if you would like.

Jenny Nguyen

Step 11

Pour Half and Half over the whole thing and enjoy!

Jenny Nguyen