Friday, August 19, 2011

Che Ba Mau - Vietnamese Three Color Dessert

Che Ba Mau meaning Three Color Dessert; consist of YELLOW
mung bean paste, GREEN agar strips, and RED beans. It looks and taste pretty similar to Suong Sa Hot Luu but there are some differences. We use red beans in Che Ba Mau and a different type of agar. Suong Sa Hot Luu uses a grass jelly agar which has a really distinct grassy taste and a dirty pondgreen color. You can make your own agar strips but to save time I just buy a can of agar called Suong Sam, it's lime green in color and has a lighter taste than grass jelly. Finally we usually sweeten Che Ba Mau with condense milk. I like faux pomegranate seeds so I like to include it in my Che Ba Mau as well.

I have to admit Che Ba Mau is pretty time consuming and tricky to make. Making the red beans and mung beans can be a nightmare. You have to cook it on really low heat over a long period of time. I've burned quite a few batch over the years. I recommend soaking the mung beans and red beans overnight.

Ingredients:

1 can of Suong Sam agar
2 cups of red beans (soak in water overnight)
2 cups of already peeled and split mung beans (soak in water over night)
1 can of coconut milk
condense milk
rock sugar
faux pomegranate seeds
finely crushed ice (prepare with a blender)

1. Rinse the red beans in water until the beans no longer makes the water cloudy.
2. Boil 5 cups of water in a pot and throw in a medium size rock sugar. Drain the red beans and pour into pot. Cook the red beans on low heat for around 2 hours or so. Once tender, drain and set aside for later.
3. Prepare the mung bean paste (refer to my Suong Sa Hot Luu entry for cooking instruction).
4. Prepare the faux pomegranate seeds (refer to my Suong Sa Hot Luu entry)
5. Slice the Suong Sam agar into strips.
6. Heat a can of coconut milk in a small pot and add 2 tablespoon of sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved, let cook for later use.
7. Prepare the crushed ice.
8. In a bowl, spread some mung bean paste at the bottom of the bowl. Second add agar strips, next the red beans, and then the faux pomegranate seeds. You can prepare these bowls ahead of time and store in fridge.
9. Before serving, add the condense milk to the bowl and then top off with some crushed ice. Finally drizzle the condense milk at the very end, depends on how sweet you like it add as much as you like.

Mix and enjoy!


12 comments:

Anonymous said...

darn it, i thought this was going to be easy. can't you buy canned beans?

Thuy said...

Honestly I was about to give up on my pot of beans today and run to the store to grab a can of beans. But it's really hot out so I actually waited for it to become tender. You should try this recipe with canned beans, i'm sure it won't make a big difference. The mung beans isn't so bad if you let it soak over night. Good luck!

PFx said...

Hi Thuy!
Great refreshing bowl for the scorching hot summer at the moment in Korea.
Little hint about why you keep on burning and waiting for ages for your red bean/mung beans:
Boil them with ONLY water, briskly or not is fine.
Sugar or salt can multiply the length of cooking by 3-30 times. Just add the sugar/salt after it's done.

Thuy said...

Pierre,

Great tip...I had no idea! Really appreciate it and i'm sure my readers would too. I'll have to add that to the entry when I get the chance =)

50 pound bag salt said...

I forgot to mention this one important thing. I like that you used crushed roasted peanuts to top it off. What flavor!

50 pound bag salt said...

love the new look! very easy on the eyes!

exercise equipment said...

WOW! Nice delicious food items.

Bob Witkow said...

Can any leftover mung bean paste and red beans be frozen for future use?

Thuy said...

I'm not sure about the mung beans but the red bean would make a great dessert by itself with water and sugar.

Unknown said...

I have just tried this desert for the first time and it was AMAZING! I will definitely be trying to make it at home, I am glad I found a recipe for it!

Thuy said...

Thanks Jessice, let me know how it turns out :)

Anonymous said...

i love eating che ba mau! id eat it all the time during the summer, its just so refreshing! but i cant help thinking...what is the history behind this dessert?