P1 A Unique Dessert

Can you imagine a dessert that evolved from diverse cultures and cuisines into a unique and tempting treat?

Chè Thưng is a scrumptious Vietnamese dessert that mixes mung beans, tapioca sticks, coconut milk, and various toppings. The old proverb says “everything changes three times at most”, but Chè Thưng doesn’t care about this rule and changes its name and ingredients four times. Are you ready to join us on a time machine and explore the amazing adventures of Chè Thưng?

Chè Tào Thưng: Old Dessert in New Environment

The year was 1939. A peaceful night, a gentle breeze. The full moon shone brightly, casting a golden ribbon of light on the rippling river. A boat glided gently on the tranquil waters of the Sam Giang River (also known as Rach Gam River, a humble stream that flows near My Tho city, Tien Giang province). On its banks, the mangrove palms swayed gently in the wind. Sometimes a sweet lullaby drifted from the tiled-roof houses hidden in the green orchard.

On the boat, a lovely woman in a pale pink blouse played a zither with grace. Her enchanting music caressed the water and stirred the waves of love. A young man in thick glasses joined her with his moon lute. His lute harmonized with the zither’s notes, but also betrayed a faint sorrow. It sang of a vague longing for a lost love.

The boat was full of young and lively people. They sang Southern amateur music, then recited poetry with music as the background. Two men had a Northern accent. The applause and laughter were warm and genuine. At the back of the boat, the pot of chicken porridge filled the air with a mouthwatering aroma. Next to it, a pot of chè tào thưng with mung beans, tapioca sticks, glass noodles, and coconut milk was bubbling softly, soothing everyone’s hearts. It was a marvelous night.

The river cruise that year was a memorable event for the host – Professor Tran Van Khe, a renowned musicologist of global fame. He shared the story in his book “Memoirs of Tran Van Khe Volume 1: Nurturing the Buds” (pages 144 to 146, Tre Publishing House 2001). 

Not only him, two distinguished guests – poets Xuan Dieu and Huy Can – also treasured it deeply. Xuan Dieu wrote Tran Van Khe a poem about the night boat ride on Sam Giang River when they met again in 1976. The poem has the lines:

                                        “Under the moon, we savor a bowl of tào thưng

                                         And in a blink of eyes, thirty years have flown by!”

Professor Tran Van Khe said that chè tào thưng was unforgettable for Xuan Dieu, as it was a delicious dish with an unusual name. He likely never came across it in the north.

Its Names and Ingredients

The sweet soup has a foreign-sounding name. Author Le Van Duc clarified this unusual name in his Vietnamese Dictionary Volume 2 as follows: “tàu thưng: green bean sweet soup, with sweet potatoes, tapioca starch and sugar water added when eaten. (Hokkien language)” (p. 1357, Khai Tri Bookstore 1970)

I had a conversation with a Teochew friend who grew up in Cho Lon (Saigon), and he told me the Teochew people also have a kind of sweet soup called tào thưng. He said that the Teochew version only had mung beans, sugar and water. 

He also claimed that the first vendors of tào thưng in Vietnam must have been Teochew people, because they had the courage and the perseverance to cook and sell food on the streets, while the Hokkien people preferred opening shops.

Compared to its original version in China, chè tào thưng has ingeniously embraced two special ingredients in Vietnam: tapioca sticks and glass noodles. 

Tapioca sticks are made from tapioca starch. They have a distinctive shape with two pointed edges and come in various colors of green, red, purple, and yellow. When cooked, they turn clear and chewy, adding a playful texture to the dessert. Glass noodles are thin strips made from the starch of either arrowroots or mung beans or sweet potatoes. They soak up water easily and become soft and slippery.

In a casual chat with an old-timer who had lived in Saigon since the 1950s, I was fascinated to hear some intriguing details about chè tào thưng. 

She said that glass noodles back then were very thin strands made from mung bean starch. Tapioca sticks were hand-made, not machine-made like today. The starchy part of a cassava root was used to make tapioca flour, which was then made into long fibers and cut short. The sticks’ colors were often milky white or mint green from pandan leaves. Chè tào thưng was sold piping hot at night by Chinese women wandering through the long narrow alleys of Saigon.

She gave me a wink and told me that the secret to making chè tào thưng was to add a pinch of salt and a dash of love. Salt would enhance the sweetness and love would guide me to put the right ingredients in at the right time. 

It sounds easy but I know it’s not, because I tried it once and ended up with a salty messy dessert and a broken heart. Well, sometimes theory is no match for practice. 

Tào thưng started as a Chinese dessert that possibly came to Vietnam with the large number of Chinese refugees who fled the Qing dynasty in the 17th century. As tào thưng became popular among the Vietnamese people, it got a makeover with some local ingredients. Coconut milk gave it a refreshing twist, while tapioca sticks and glass noodles made it more filling and satisfying. Tào thưng has reinvented itself from a simple Chinese dish to a flavorful and satisfying Vietnamese dessert.

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We will enjoy the nostalgic version and hear its delicious melody in the next episode.