Vietnamese Dessert

Desserts as known in the western cuisine are not generally eaten in Vietnam. Meals are most likely to be finished with a selection of different types of fabulous fresh fruit. However. sweet snacks are available on the street all day long. Vietnamese are fond of fruits - bananas, mangos, papayas, oranges, coconuts, and pineapple. Vietnamese are accustomed to little milk and cheese, and many cannot produce the enzymes needed to properly digest dairy foods (lactose intolerance). Vietnamese drink a large amount of hot green tea and coffee without adding sugar, milk, or lemon. The young Vietnamese generations, especially in the oversea immigrant communities, have acquired the taste for the western sweet bakeries and goodies.

Món tráng miệng - Vietnamese desserts
Fresh fruits are the most popular desserts in Viet Nam, but "Chè" is the most traditional Vietnamese dessert. It's a sweet pudding usually made from beans, bananas, coconut milk, pearl tapioca, sweet yam or yucca root vermicelli and sugar. There are shops which sell nothing but "Chè". "Chè" is also a popular snack for the Vietnamese. In high-priced restaurants you can also find European cakes and ice cream.

Vietnamese Dessert Categories Information

Dessert	Description
Chè	a sweet dessert beverage or pudding usually made from beans and sticky rice. Many varieties of chè are available, each with different fruits, beans (for example, mung beans or kidney beans), and other ingredients. Chè can be served cold – such as sâm bổ lường, which includes dried jujube, longan, fresh seaweed, barley and lotus seeds – or hot.
Chè xôi nước	Chè xôi nước is a Vietnamese dessert consisting of balls made from mung bean paste wrapped in a shell made of glutinous rice flour. The balls are served in a thick, sweet clear or brown liquid made of water, sugar, and grated ginger root. It is generally warmed before eating and garnished with sesame seeds. Two northern Vietnamese desserts, bánh trôi (also called bánh trôi nước) and bánh chay, are similar to chè xôi nước (the latter being served with coconut milk). Chè xôi nước is also similar to a Chinese dish called tangyuan. Both chè xôi nước and tangyuan may also be distantly related or derived from the North Indian dessert called gulab jamun.
Xôi	Xôi is a sweet (ngọt) or savory (mặn) Vietnamese dish made from glutinous rice and other ingredients. Although it is often served as a dessert, in many mountainous areas in Vietnam, people eat xôi as a main dish.
Bánh đúc	Bánh đúc is a term used to refer to two different varieties of Vietnamese bánh, or cake. In northern Vietnam, bánh đúc is a cake made from either non-glutinous rice flour or corn flour. It is white in color and has a soft texture and mild flavour.photo It is typically garnished with savory ingredients such as ground pork, tôm chấy (grilled ground shrimp),photo fried onions, sesame seeds, salt, peanuts, lime juice, and soy sauce or fish sauce.photo Although it may be eaten on its own, it may also be served hot, accompanied by steamed meat or mushrooms. Bánh đúc is available at small stalls and is eaten throughout the day. In southern Vietnam, bánh đúc is a dessert made from non-glutinous rice flour. It takes the form of gelatinous blocks that are often colored green by the addition of Pandanus amaryllifolius leaf extract. It is cooked by boiling the ingredients and allowing them to cool, solidifying into a jelly-like sheetphoto that is then cut into blocks.
Bánh da lợn	Bánh da lợn or bánh da heo (literally "pig skin cake") is a Vietnamese steamed layer cake made from tapioca starch, rice flour, mashed mung beans, taro, or durian, coconut milk and/or water, and sugar. It is sweet and gelatinously soft in texture (not chewy), with thin (approximately 1 cm) colored layers alternating with layers of mung bean, durian, or taro filling.
Sâm bổ lượng	Sâm bổ lượng (also called chè sâm bổ lượng, chè meaning "sweet soup") is a Vietnamese sweet, cold soup of Chinese origin, similar to a tong sui (Chinese dessert soup). Although the exact recipe may vary, sâm bổ lượng generally contains Job's tears, dried longans, red jujubes, lotus seeds, and thinly sliced seaweed, with water, sugar, and crushed ice. In place of the Job's tears, pearl barley may sometimes be used, and thinly sliced strips of ginger and/or ginseng root, wolfberries, or ginkgo nuts may also appear as ingredients. Sâm bổ lượng is most readily available in Cholon, the Chinatown of Ho Chi Minh City, and is generally served in a tall glass. Although it is sometimes described as a drink, the term "soup" is more appropriate as a spoon is generally necessary to consume the solid ingredients. The original Chinese version of sâm bổ lượng is called qīng bǔ liáng ( Hán-Việt: thanh bổ lượng; chingpoleung, ching po leung, or ching bo leung in Cantonese), and is most popular in the Cantonese cuisine of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Bánh rau câu	a popular gelatin dessert cake made with agar and flavored with coconut milk, pandan or other flavors. Because the gelatin is firm in texture compared to American gelatin, Vietnamese gelatin can be layered and shaped into intricate cakes. The gelatin is often called sương sa.
Deep-fried banana	banana fried in a batter and often served hot with cold ice cream, usually vanilla or coconut.
Flan	influenced by French cuisine and served with caramel sauce.
Sinh tố	a fruit smoothie made with just a few teaspoons of sweetened condensed milk, crushed ice and fresh local fruits. The smoothies come in many varieties including custard apple, sugar apple, avocado, jackfruit, durian, strawberry, passionfruit, dragonfruit, lychee, mango, and banana.
Yogurt	made with condensed milk and has a sweet, tart flavor. It can be eaten in its cool, soft form or frozen. In Vietnam, it can be seen served frozen in small, clear bags.
Various cakes and confections made with any combination of sweet beans, tropical fruit and glutinous rice.

Chè (Vietnamese pronunciation: is a Vietnamese term that refers to any traditional Vietnamese sweet dessert soup or pudding.

As such, it may, with the addition of qualifying adjectives, refer to a wide variety of distinct soups or puddings, which may be served either hot or cold. Some varieties, such as chè xôi nước, may also include dumplings.

Chè are often prepared with one of a number of varieties of beans and/or glutinous rice, cooked in water and sweetened with sugar. Other ingredients may include tapioca starch, salt, and pandan leaf extract. Each variety of chè is designated by a descriptive word or phrase that follows the word chè, such as chè đậu đỏ (literally "red bean chè").

In southern Vietnam, chè are often garnished with coconut creme.

Chè may be made at home, but are also commonly available freshly made in plastic containers, in Vietnamese grocery stores in Vietnam as well as overseas.

In northern Vietnam, chè is also the word for the tea plant. Tea is also known as nước chè in the North or more commonly trà in both regions.

The Filipino dessert halo halo as well as the Chinese category of sweet soups called tong sui are very similar to chè.

There is a nearly endless variety of named dishes with the prefix chè, and thus it is impossible to produce a complete list. What follows is a list of the most typical traditional varieties of chè.

* Bobochacha or Bocha - a Vietnamese interpretation of a popular sweet soup originating from Malaysia and Singapore, found in Hanoi.
* Chè bà ba (this dish's name may have two possible origins: 1) "Ms. Third's sweet soup": it is likely that this dish was first made by a person whose nickname was "Third" (Vietnamese: ba). However, it is also possible that this name is only symbolic; in Vietnam, customers typically call women who sell chè by their position in their families: i.e., "Ms. Third," "Ms. Fourth," "Ms. Fifth," etc.; or 2) "bà ba-wearing sellers' sweet soup"): made from taro, cassava and khoai lang bí, a kind of sweet potato that is long, with red skin and yellow flesh.
* Chè bà cốt - made from expanded glutinous rice
* Chè ba màu (literally "three colours sweet soup": three is an important number in Vietnam) - usually including green mung beans, white black-eyed peas, and red azuki beans, although people can cook with any ingredients making any three colours they like
* Chè bách niên hảo hợp (literally: one hundred years of a good match/marriage) – made from red beans, lotus seed, water lily bulb, and others
* Chè bánh lọt - made from bánh lọt - a cake from Huế (lọt means "to sift" or "to sigh").
* Chè bắp (the Southern name) or chè ngô (the Northern) - made from corn and other ingredients which people like.
* Chè bột lọc
* Chè bột sắn (or chè sắn bột) - made from cassava powder
o Chè sắn lắt - made from sliced cassava
* Chè bưởi - made from grapefruit oil and slivered rind
* Chè chuối - made from bananas and tapioca (Vietnamese: bột báng).
* Chè con ong (literally "bee sweet soup"; so named because this dish is viscous and yellow, like honey) - made from glutinous rice, ginger root, honey, and molasses– this is a northern dish, usually cooked to offer to the ancestors at Tết.
* Chè cốm - made from young rice.
* Chè củ mài - made from Dioscorea persimilis
* Chè củ súng - made from water lily bulbs
* Chè củ từ (or chè khoai từ) - made from Dioscorea esculenta
* Chè đậu đen - made from black beans; one of the most popular varieties of chè, particularly for northern Vietnamese
* Chè đậu đỏ - made from azuki beans , usually using whole beans, rarely using ground beans.
* Chè đậu huyết
* Chè đậu ngự - made from Phaseolus lunatus (or moon beans) - specialty in Huế, an imperial dish
* Chè đậu phụng (also called chè đậu phộng in southern Vietnam, or chè lạc in northern Vietnam) - made from peanuts
* Chè đậu trắng - made from black-eyed peas
* Chè đậu ván Huế - made from Dolichos lablab (hyacinth beans); a specialty in Huế
* Chè đậu xanh - made from whole mung beans
o Chè đậu xanh phổ tai - made from mung beans and phổ tai (a kind of kelp)
o Chè đậu đãi - made from ground skinless mung beans (đãi means to remove the skin)
o Chè hoa cau - a northern dish made from ground skinless mung beans with betel nut flower-shape (a similar dish called chè táo xọn, prepared in southern Vietnam, uses less mung beans)
* Chè hạt sen - made from lotus seeds
o Chè sen trần
o Chè sen dừa - made from lotus seeds and coconut water
* Chè hoa quả mixture of different fruits including pineapple, water melon, apple, pear, mango, lychee, dried banana, cherry, and dried coconut with milk, yogurt, and syrup
* Chè hột lựu (called by this name in southern Vietnam; called chè hạt lựu in northern Vietnam) - in this dish, ingredients are cut into pomegranate seed (hạt/hột lựu)- shaped pieces.
* Chè Inđô - imported from Indonesia
* Chè kê - made from millet
* Chè khoai lang - made from sweet potato
* Chè khoai môn - made from taro
o Chè môn sáp vàng - made from a variety of taro grown in Huế
* Chè khoai tây - made from potato
* Chè lam - made from ground glutinous rice
* Chè lạp xường or chè lạp xưởng - made from Chinese sausage
* Chè long nhãn - made from longan
* Chè mã thầy (or chè củ năn) - made from water chestnuts
* Chè mầm
* Sâm bổ lượng - cold, sweet soup containing Job's tears, dried longans, red jujubes, lotus seeds, thinly sliced seaweed, and sometimes other ingredients, with water, sugar, and crushed ice
* Chè thạch or chè rau câu - made from seaweed
o Chè thạch lựu - made from seaweed and other pomegranate seed-shaped ingredients.
o Chè thạch sen - made from seaweed and lotus seeds
* Chè Thái - any one of a variety of sweet soups originating from Thailand
* Chè thập cẩm (chè lẫn) meaning ten-ingredient sweet soup or mixed sweet soup is a mixture of various kinds of ingredients such as black-eyed peas, azuki beans, lotus seeds, mung beans, coconut, syrup, ice cream, milk and trân châu. This is one of the most popular forms of chè served in Vietnam.
* Chè thịt quay - made from roast pork
* Chè thưng - made from dried red jujube, peanut, and dried Auricularia auricula-judae fungus
* Chè trứng đỏ - made from egg and other ingredients which people like
* Chè trái cây - made from fruits
* Chè vừng - made from sesame seeds
* Chè xoài - made from mango
* Chè xôi nước - balls made from mung bean paste in a shell made of glutinous rice flour; served in a thick clear or brown liquid made of water, sugar, and grated ginger root.

Chè xôi nước is a Vietnamese dessert consisting of balls made from mung bean paste wrapped in a shell made of glutinous rice flour. The balls are served in a thick, sweet clear or brown liquid made of water, sugar, and grated ginger root. It is generally warmed before eating and garnished with sesame seeds.

Two northern Vietnamese desserts, bánh trôi (also called bánh trôi nước) and bánh chay, are similar to chè xôi nước (the latter being served with coconut milk). Chè xôi nước is also similar to a Chinese dish called tangyuan. Both chè xôi nước and tangyuan may also be distantly related or derived from the North Indian dessert called gulab jamun.

Xôi is a sweet (ngọt) or savory (mặn) Vietnamese dish made from glutinous rice and other ingredients. Although it is often served as a dessert, in many mountainous areas in Vietnam, people eat xôi as a main dish.

Sweet

Sweet xôi are called xôi ngọt in Vietnamese. They include the following varieties:

* Xôi bắp - made with corn, sugar, fried onions, and smashed cooked mung beans
* Xôi đậu đen - made with black urad beans
* Xôi đậu phộng (southern Vietnamese name, also spelled xôi đậu phụng; called xôi lạc in northern Vietnam) - made with peanuts
* Xôi đậu xanh - made with mung beans
* Xôi dừa - made with coconut
* Xôi gấc - made with the aril and seeds of the gấc fruit
* Xôi khoai mì - made with cassava
* Xôi lá cẩm (also called xôi tím) - made with the magenta plant
o Xôi lá cẩm đậu xanh - made with the magenta plant and mung beans
* Xôi lá dứa - made with pandan leaf extract for the green color and a distinctive pandan flavor
* Xôi lam - cooked in a tube of bamboo of the genus Neohouzeaua and often served with sesame seeds and salt; a specialty of highland minority groups
* Xôi lúa
* Xôi nếp than - made with black glutinous rice
* Xôi ngũ sắc - 5-colored xôi: purple from the leaf extract of the magenta plant, green from pandan leaf, red from gấc fruit, yellow from mung beans, and the white color of natural glutinous rice
* Xôi nhộng
* Xôi sầu riêng - made with durian
* Xôi vị
* Xôi vò - the glutinous rice grains do not stick together in this type of xôi, as they are coated with ground peeled-and-boiled mung beans
* Xôi xiêm
* Xôi xoài - made with coconut milk and fresh ripe mango; of Thai origin

Savory

Savory xôi are called xôi mặn in Vietnamese. They include the following varieties:

* Xôi cá
o Xôi cá rô đồng
o Xôi cá rô phi
* Xôi chiên phồng - deep-fried glutinous rice patty
* Xôi gà - made with chicken
* Xôi khúc - almost like a sticky rice cake, with mung bean paste and boiled quail egg inside
* Xôi lam - cooked in a tube of bamboo of the genus Neohouzeaua and often served with grilled pork or chicken; a specialty of highland minority groups
* Xôi lạp xưởng or xôi lạp xường - made with Chinese sausage
* Xôi thập cẩm - subgum xôi
o Xôi thập cẩm chiên - fried subgum xôi
* Xôi xíu mại - similar to the Cantonese siu mai

A flan is an open-topped pie, similar to a quiche but, especially in savoury versions, lacking the custard-style filling. The base is of shortcrust pastry, distinguishing it from the tart, which more often has a puff pastry base. It is also filled with custard in Mexico and marc in Brazil.

The British savoury flans may have diverged from the sweeter Spanish flans in the Middle Ages. In Latin America, the sweet flan is popular, and many local versions exist, including the Flan napolitano from Mexico, flan de coco from Costa Rica and the widespread flan de leche, often eaten with cream.

Yoghurt or yogurt is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Fermentation of lactose produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yoghurt its texture and its characteristic tang. Soy yoghurt, a non-dairy yoghurt alternative, is made from soy milk. Dairy yoghurt is produced using a culture of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus bacteria. Milk is heated and cooled for an hour. While it is heated, the bacteria are added for fermentation.

People have been making—and eating—yogurt for at least 5,500 years. Today it is a common food item throughout the world. A nutritious food with unique health benefits, it is rich in protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12.

Sâm bổ lượng (also called chè sâm bổ lượng, chè meaning "sweet soup") is a Vietnamese sweet, cold soup of Chinese origin, similar to a tong sui (Chinese dessert soup). Although the exact recipe may vary, sâm bổ lượng generally contains Job's tears, dried longans, red jujubes, lotus seeds, and thinly sliced seaweed, with water, sugar, and crushed ice. In place of the Job's tears, pearl barley may sometimes be used, and thinly sliced strips of ginger and/or ginseng root, wolfberries, or ginkgo nuts may also appear as ingredients.

Sâm bổ lượng is most readily available in Cholon, the Chinatown of Ho Chi Minh City, and is generally served in a tall glass. Although it is sometimes described as a drink, the term "soup" is more appropriate as a spoon is generally necessary to consume the solid ingredients.

The original Chinese version of sâm bổ lượng is called qīng bǔ liáng ( in Hán-Việt: thanh bổ lượng; chingpoleung, ching po leung, or ching bo leung in Cantonese), and is most popular in the Cantonese cuisine of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Bánh đúc is a term used to refer to two different varieties of Vietnamese bánh, or cake.
In northern Vietnam, bánh đúc is a cake made from either non-glutinous rice flour or corn flour. It is white in color and has a soft texture and mild flavour.photo It is typically garnished with savory ingredients such as ground pork, tôm chấy (grilled ground shrimp),photo fried onions, sesame seeds, salt, peanuts, lime juice, and soy sauce or fish sauce.photo Although it may be eaten on its own, it may also be served hot, accompanied by steamed meat or mushrooms.

Bánh đúc is a term used to refer to two different varieties of Vietnamese bánh, or cake.

In northern Vietnam, bánh đúc is a cake made from either non-glutinous rice flour or corn flour. It is white in color and has a soft texture and mild flavour.photo It is typically garnished with savory ingredients such as ground pork, tôm chấy (grilled ground shrimp),photo fried onions, sesame seeds, salt, peanuts, lime juice, and soy sauce or fish sauce.photo Although it may be eaten on its own, it may also be served hot, accompanied by steamed meat or mushrooms.
Bánh đúc is available at small stalls and is eaten throughout the day.
In southern Vietnam, bánh đúc is a dessert made from non-glutinous rice flour. It takes the form of gelatinous blocks that are often colored green by the addition of Pandanus amaryllifolius leaf extract. It is cooked by boiling the ingredients and allowing them to cool, solidifying into a jelly-like sheetphoto that is then cut into blocks.
* Bánh đúc bột gạo - made from (non-glutinous) rice flour
* Bánh đúc bột năn dòn trong
* Bánh đúc gân đá cẫm thạch - veined coloration resembles marble
* Bánh đúc gạo - made from (non-glutinous) rice
* Bánh đúc khoai môn - made with taro
* Bánh đúc mặn - made with salt
* Bánh đúc miền trung - made in the central region of Vietnam
* Bánh đúc ngô - made from maize
* Bánh đúc nộm - bánh đúc salad
* Bánh đúc nóng - hot bánh đúc
* Bánh đúc nước dừa - made with coconut juice
* Bánh đúc nước cốt dừa - made with coconut milk
* Bánh đúc sốt - steaming hot bánh đúc
* Bánh đúc xanh - literally "blue/green bánh đúc"; made with Pandanus amaryllifolius leaf extract

* Bánh đúc bột gạo - made from (non-glutinous) rice flour
* Bánh đúc bột năn dòn trong
* Bánh đúc gân đá cẫm thạch - veined coloration resembles marble
* Bánh đúc gạo - made from (non-glutinous) rice
* Bánh đúc khoai môn - made with taro
* Bánh đúc mặn - made with salt
* Bánh đúc miền trung - made in the central region of Vietnam
* Bánh đúc ngô - made from maize
* Bánh đúc nộm - bánh đúc salad
* Bánh đúc nóng - hot bánh đúc
* Bánh đúc nước dừa - made with coconut juice
* Bánh đúc nước cốt dừa - made with coconut milk
* Bánh đúc sốt - steaming hot bánh đúc
* Bánh đúc xanh - literally "blue/green bánh đúc"; made with Pandanus amaryllifolius leaf extract

Bánh da lợn or bánh da heo (literally "pig skin cake") is a Vietnamese steamed layer cake made from tapioca starch, rice flour, mashed mung beans, taro, or durian, coconut milk and/or water, and sugar. It is sweet and gelatinously soft in texture (not chewy), with thin (approximately 1 cm) colored layers alternating with layers of mung bean, durian, or taro filling.

Typical versions of bánh da lợn may feature the following ingredients:
* Pandan leaf (for green color) with mung bean paste filling
* Pandan leaf (for green color) with durian filling
* Lá cẩm (leaf of the magenta plant, Peristrophe roxburghiana; imparts a purple color when boiled) with mashed taro filling

In modern cooking, artificial food coloring is sometimes used in place of the vegetable coloring.

A cake called kuih lapis, which is made in Malaysia and Indonesia, is nearly identical to bánh da lợn.