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Best Chè trôi nước in Chicago

“Soft glutinous rice filled with mung bean paste, bathed in warm ginger-sweetened syrup and coconut milk.”

Chè trôi nước

What the real thing tastes like

Chè trôi nước (literally "floating dessert wading in water"; also called chè xôi nước in southern Vietnam, bánh chay in northern Vietnam) is a Vietnamese dessert made of glutinous rice filled with mung bean paste bathed in a sweet clear or brown syrup made of water, sugar, and grated ginger root. It is generally warmed before eating and garnished with sesame seeds and coconut milk. It is often served during Lunar New Year or, more recently, during the Cold-Eating Festival (March 3 in the Vietnamese calendar). Two northern Vietnamese desserts, bánh trôi (also called bánh trôi nước) and bánh chay, are similar to chè trôi nước. Chè trôi nước is also similar to the Chinese dish tangyuan (湯圓 / 汤圆). In southern Vietnam, three bowls of chè xôi nước are customarily prepared for Tết Ông Táo, or Ông Táo's Return to Heaven, which takes place on December 23.

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Chè trôi nước floats in warm, ginger-sweetened syrup—soft glutinous rice spheres cradling earthy mung bean paste. Topped with sesame seeds and a pour of coconut milk, this Vietnamese dessert arrives warm, its name perfectly literal: dessert wading in water. It appears during Lunar New Year and the Cold-Eating Festival, though in southern Vietnam it holds special purpose as an offering during Tết Ông Táo.

Order it here when it has

  • ceremonial significance
  • warm and comforting
  • aromatic ginger syrup
  • layered textures

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