In Vietnam there's a sweet called chè. Beans, taro, or fruit simmered until sweet, then paired with ice or coconut milk — it's close to what we'd call zenzai or anmitsu in Japan. It's the kind of thing you find yourself wanting to grab on a hot day.
Since I'm usually in Ho Chi Minh City, chè, to me, meant a cold, sweet cup packed with fruit and coconut milk. I took that for granted.
But then,Hanoithe chè I ate was a completely different thing. The sweetness was restrained, the toppings were lotus seeds and beans. And, to my surprise, there was even kombu in it.
In the south, chè is a sweet cup of fruit and coconut
First, the southern chè I grew up familiar with. In hot regions like Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta, chè is mostly served cold. Shaved ice (đá bào) is generously topped with coconut milk (nước cốt dừa).
The signature dish is chè Thái, a mix of jackfruit, longan, lychee and more. Chè ba màu (three-color chè), with layers of red beans, yellow mung beans, and green jelly, is also a staple. You often see chè chuối, made with simmered banana, too.
All of it is sweet, cold, and colorful to look at. Eaten in the southern heat, it hits just right.
In the north, chè is less sweet—and had "kombu" in it
The Hanoi chè, on the other hand, made me think "oh, this isn't sweet" the moment it touched my tongue. To be precise, the sweetness is elegant and restrained. Used to the south's richness, at first I even found it a little lacking.
The main ingredients are simple ones like lotus seeds (hạt sen) and mung beans. Lotus from West Lake (Hồ Tây) in Hanoi is known for its fine fragrance, and lotus-seed chè is said to be a cup served even when welcoming guests.
And what surprised me most was the kombu. There was thin-cut kombu (phổ tai) in the mung-bean chè. In Vietnamese it's called phổ tai, but it's exactly the same thing as Japanese kombu. Kombu in a dessert sounds alarming, but as an ingredient that cools the body it blended right into the summer chè.
In the north there's also warm chè. Chè trôi nước, glutinous rice balls simmered in ginger syrup, is eaten in the chilly season and on celebratory days—another type I rarely came across in the south.
Honestly, I prefer this northern chè. The sweet fruit-and-coconut chè you eat in Ho Chi Minh City is delicious too, but now and then I find it "too sweet." The northern chè, by contrast, is light on sweetness, and the flavor of the lotus seeds and beans really comes through.
Most of all, I love that it has kombu (kelp) in it. Kelp in a dessert seems odd to the Japanese palate, but when you try it, it doesn't get in the way at all. If anything, it cleans up the aftertaste. On a hot day, scooping up a not-too-sweet chè, kelp and all, feels like the heat quietly draining out of you.
When it comes to Vietnamese sweets, the flashy southern chè inevitably gets the fame. But I'd love people to encounter this plain northern chè at least once, too.
The same "chè," yet completely different
The south, sweet and gorgeous with fruit and coconut. The north, restrained with lotus seeds, beans, and kombu. Same name, same sweet — yet the fact that north and south differ this much is the fascinating part.Regional differences in Vietnamese foodthe more you get to know it, the more often you run into this kind of "same dish, yet a different thing."
When you come to Vietnam, have a cup of cold chè in the south and a cup of the less-sweet chè in the north. Tasting them side by side, you can sense this country's north-south differences on your tongue—which I find fascinating.
A note for those who want to know a bit more
From here on is some background on chè itself. Let me lay out the differences between north and south, along with the representative kinds of chè.
What chè is in the first place
Chè is a general term for traditional Vietnamese sweets made by simmering beans, taro, grains, fruit and the like in syrup. There are warm and cold versions, sold everywhere from street stalls to specialty shops. "Chè" originally also means tea, but that's a different thing from the sweet chè.
This different, between north and south
| Northern region (Hanoi, etc.) | The south (Ho Chi Minh City, etc.) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sweetness | Restrained and refined | Firmly sweet |
| Temperature | Many are served warm | Mostly served cold |
| Main ingredients | Lotus seeds, mung beans, kombu (phổ tai) | Fruit, beans, jelly |
| Coconut | Restrained | Use generously |
| impression | Simple, with a clean finish | Showy and rich |
The difference in climate comes through directly. The hot south goes cold and sweet; the north, with its four seasons, values warmth and refinement. A single bowl of chè reveals the temperament of north and south.
A range of representative chè
- chè sen: Lotus-seed chè. A refined northern cup. West Lake lotus is famous
- chè đậu xanh phổ tai: chè with mung beans and kombu. A northern staple that cools the body in summer
- chè trôi nước: Glutinous rice balls simmered in ginger syrup—a warm chè. Eaten on celebratory days in the north
- chè Thái: Jackfruit and lychee piled up—a southern fruit chè
- chè ba màu: a three-color chè in red, yellow, and green. Served with coconut milk and ice. A southern staple
- chè chuối: Banana simmered in coconut milk—a simple southern cup
Highly rated chè shops you can visit in the north
Centered on Hanoi's Old Quarter, here are some highly rated chè shops (ratings from Google Maps, as of July 2026). You can open each location on Google Maps from the shop name.
Chè Hương Hải（93 Hàng Bạc） ★4.3 / 856 reviews
A popular shop on Hàng Bạc Street in the Old Quarter. Lots of reviews, and the rating holds steady.
