Vietnamese Che with Tropical Fruits and Jellies

The summer weather in San Francisco has been like a teenager's love life – one day hot, two days foggy, part-day sunny, and so forth. I like dessert recipes that do not require baking and if you check out my recipe page it reflects my dessert personality. We wanted something cool and refreshing for dessert but not cold on an ice cream level so Vietnamese che is perfect.

Vietnamese che (dessert) is basically a soupy dessert and can almost be consist of any of the usual Vietnamese dessert ingredients such as red bean, mung bean, fruits, jelly in a varieties of colors and flavors, kidney beans, and similar ingredients.

This recipe is very easy because almost everything is canned. We elected to use canned fruits because fresh tropical fruits are expensive and never really as good as the canned forms. Basically the recipe calls for a can opener and a spoon to mix. Anyone including Captain Hook can throw one together faster than Rachael Ray.

Che

1 20 oz can sliced Jackfruit

1 16 oz can Grass Jelly (sliced into cubes)

1 20oz can Lychees

1 20 oz can Logans

1 16 oz can Green Pandan Jelly

1 16 oz can Coconut Jelly

1 12 oz can Evaporated Milk

8 oz Coconut Milk

2 Tablespoon Condensed Milk

1 can Quail Eggs *optional

Drain each can and soak in water for a few minutes and re drain. Sliced the jellies into cubes if not pre-cut. Mixed everything together in a big bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 before serving or serve with ice cubes if used immediately. Spoon into pretty cups or bowls.

*Optional: Top each dessert cup with a few quail eggs

Topped with quail eggs

My sister likes her Vietnamese che with quail eggs which I never tried but she claims it to be wonderful. After much deliberation and “taste-tasting” and fulfilling my duties as a blogger, I can attest that eggs adds an richness to the dessert. The quail eggs give the dessert a little “something-something” in the background. The little “something-something” is quite delicious.