Flip to the last page of the menu at Thuận Kiều Vietnamese restaurant and you'll see two strange photos of a jello substance layered into ice cream sundae glasses.
One glass is watery and translucent with little white flakes suspended weightless, like a liquid snow globe or something a young alien might purchase at its school cafeteria. The other one sports the colors of the Mexican flag.
Most people just ignore these things, but it was a hot day so I thought, "why not?"
The pictures are in the dessert section of the menu, under the name Chè. (I later found out Chè means sweet dessert soup, and can be hot or cold.) There are six Chè desserts at Thuận Kiều, including dried longan in light syrup Chè Nhãn Nhục and the iced jelly drink Xương Xa Hột Lựu.
The world of Chè seems impenetrable and vast. Dozens of varieties exist, which no doubt will never touch the sands of Tucson: azuki beans, fresh aloe vera, jackfruit, green beans wrapped in tapioca skin dumplings. (And something called Job's tears???)
Right next door to Thuận Kiều inside the sprawling Lee Lee International Supermarket, 1990 W. Orange Grove Road, there's an entire shelf dedicated to these colorful oddities. My favorite is the one toward the left with the millions of mini eyeballs.
The sweet Vietnamese drinks on the shelves at Lee Lee come from a couple different markets in the Los Angeles area.
That day they were out of a few of them at the restaurant, so I asked my server for the "three color bean" variety in the picture, Chè Dậu 3 Màu. I also ordered a plain shaved ice with just red beans, as well as a whole coconut that had been hollowed out so you can drink the juice inside. (My boyfriend said that one tasted like "Saltine cracker water.")
Despite its confusing name, the "three color bean" only has two different types of beans: sticky sweet little red beans and the larger yellow, more savory mung beans. The third layer on the top is actually shaved ice, topped with coconut milk and sugar water. And for good measure, they also throw in some bouncy blades of green jellies, which give you a sensation of eating grass. (Note: unlike the picture, it came in a plastic cup.)
If you're new to this whole idea of savory/sweet desserts, you might be a little put off by the earthiness of Chè. It's definitely not for everyone. But isn't that true for all of our trendsetters and revolutionaries? You either hate 'em, or they change your entire world ...
