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Vietnamese chèMung bean + lotus seed

Four ingredients · warm or chilled

Mung Bean & Lotus Seeds Sweet Soup

A light Vietnamese sweet soup of soft hulled mung beans and tender lotus seeds, served warm or chilled with an optional ribbon of coconut milk.

Cook the sweet soup
A bowl of pale golden Vietnamese mung bean sweet soup on a dark bamboo mat.
Vietnamese mung bean chè establishes the source recipe’s light, spoonable style; whole lotus seeds add a tender, nutty counterpoint.Photo by Hoangkid · CC BY-SA 4.0
Optional soak
30 min
Simmer
30 to 40 min
Texture
Light + spoonable
Makes
3 to 4 servings

This is a sweet soup built for company, not spectacle. Thanh Anh learned the dessert from a former housemate and kept the formula spare: hulled yellow mung beans, lotus seeds, water, and enough sugar to suit the table. More water than a thick mung bean pudding gives the bowl its easy, delicate character.

The contrast is small but precise. Some mung beans dissolve into the broth; some remain visible. The lotus seeds stay whole and creamy. Served warm, it is gentle autumn comfort. Chilled with coconut milk, it becomes a cool, softly rich dessert.

“A simple sweet soup, with easy to find ingredients and the cooking process is no fuss either.”

Break only some

Crush a few soft mung beans with the spoon, leaving the rest to give the broth its quiet texture.

Keep lotus intact

The seeds should yield all the way through without collapsing into the yellow broth.

Sweeten by taste

There is no fixed sugar measure in the source; add enough to lift the beans without masking them.

Mise en placeClean flavor first

Four checks before the water boils

A careful rinse and a quick look inside the lotus seeds do more for this four-ingredient soup than any elaborate technique.

Gold + ivoryTwo kinds of softness

Tiny yellow halves and pale lotus pearls share the same quiet pot

A close view of hulled and split yellow mung beans.
Hulled yellow mung beans soften quickly and cloud the broth without making it as dense as a purée.Photo by Thamizhpparithi Maari · CC BY-SA 3.0
Leave a little shape

Soft is the target, not smooth: stir just enough to cloud the broth and stop while individual beans remain.

A close view of pale, coreless white lotus seeds.
Coreless lotus seeds avoid the bitter green germ while keeping the soup’s flavor clean and delicate.Photo by Fumikas Sagisavas · CC0 1.0

Doneness cuesKnow when to stop

Three textures in one pale-gold bowl

The recipe is ready when each layer is soft in a different way, before the pot becomes a uniform purée.

01

Clouded broth

The hulled beans soften into the water, giving it body while the generous liquid keeps the bowl light.

02

Broken beans

A restrained stir releases some starch and fragrance without turning the whole pot into paste.

03

Whole lotus seeds

Tender, creamy centers stand apart from the smaller mung beans and make every spoonful distinct.

Serving planWarm to chilled

One pot, two temperatures, three good days

The same light soup moves easily from a just-cooked bowl to a coconut-finished dessert from the refrigerator.

Warm

Ladle the soup after a brief rest, while the broth is loose and the lotus seeds are at their most fragrant.

Chilled

Cool completely, refrigerate, then loosen with water and add the source’s optional drizzle of coconut milk.

Tomorrow

Store covered in shallow containers for up to three days; reheat gently so the intact seeds stay intact.

Mung bean and lotus seeds sweet soup

A light Vietnamese chè with soft hulled mung beans, intact lotus seeds, and sweetness adjusted at the stove.

DessertVietnameseChèMung BeanLotus SeedVeganGluten-Free

Ingredients

Sweet soup

  • 60 g hulled yellow mung beans
  • 50 g frozen lotus seeds, thawed
  • 500 ml water, plus more as needed
  • Granulated sugar, to taste

For a chilled serving, optional

  • Coconut milk, for drizzling

Directions

  1. Rinse the mung beans in several changes of cool water until the water is nearly clear. For a shorter simmer, cover them with hot water and soak for 30 minutes; drain well.
  2. Bring 500 ml water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in the drained mung beans, lower the heat, and maintain a gentle simmer. Stir occasionally and add a splash of water if the soup becomes thicker than you like.
  3. Meanwhile, rinse the thawed lotus seeds. Split or inspect them and remove any bitter green germ that remains in the center.
  4. When the mung beans are soft enough to crush easily between your fingers, stir gently with a wooden spoon to break up some of them while deliberately leaving plenty of texture.
  5. Add the lotus seeds and sugar to taste. Continue at a gentle simmer until the lotus seeds are tender throughout but still hold their shape; the total cooking time should be about 30 to 40 minutes.
  6. Taste and adjust the sweetness or consistency with a little more sugar or hot water. Serve warm, or cool and chill before finishing each bowl with coconut milk if desired.

Image credits

Photography is used under open licenses with attribution: Hoangkid, Thamizhpparithi Maari, and Fumikas Sagisavas.