Vietnamese Grapefruit Sweet Soup – Sweet Dessert To Enjoy For All Seasons (Chè Bưởi)

Grapefruit is also called as Vietnamese Pomelo. It is a tasty fresh water-rich fruit that is loved by many people. Grapefruit is excellent to reduce the fat level in blood and keeps your body in shape. Not only the juicy flesh inside, but we also can use the white flesh right under the green peel to make a sweet soup. 

Vietnamese Grapefruit Sweet Soup or Chè Bưởi is a chewy, crunchy, slightly sweet and full of pomelo flavour dessert. It can be served cool with ice or warm. 

Today we will share how to make this simple and delicious Vietnamese grapefruit sweet soup. It’s time to make the most out of your cooking skill and amaze your loved one with this tasty dessert.

Grapefruit Sweet Soup: A Vietnamese Great Dessert Recipe

1. What To Prepare:

White part: 200 grams

Mung bean (shell removed): 100 grams

Sugar: 200 grams

Attar of Pomelo’s flower

Alum: 1 teaspoon

Tapioca starch: 150 grams

Coconut milk: 300ml 

Salt

2. How To Cook Vietnamese Grapefruit Sweet Soup Recipe:

Step 1: 

– Pare off the green peel of the Pomelo, only take the white part. 

– Dice the white part and mix them well with a little salt. The white part is often a bit bitter, therefore, you should soak them in salted water. It will help to remove the bitter taste. Gently mix by hand, then leave them in 10 minutes. 

– After 10 minutes, rinse the white cubes with water until all the bitter taste is removed and being crunchy and clear white.

– Wash the mung bean and soak them in water for 3 hours to soften them.

Step 2: 

To make the cubes crunchier, after rinsing under the water about 4 times. Put a pot of water to the stove, boil the cubes and add a little of alum in. If you don’t have the alum, you can also use a little lime juice. Boil the cubes for a few minutes. Then take them out and continue to rinse with water to remove the alum. 

–  Take a bowl of water mix with flour, then soak the Pomelo white cubes into the bowl. After a few minutes, take the Pomelo white cubes out and clean them. 

Step 3: 

– Add sugar to the Pomelo white cubes and mix it well. Leave them aside for a few minutes then put them on a bowl. Add 150 grams tapioca starch to the cubes and mix well. Keep mixing until the flour cover all around the cubes. 

– After soaking the mung bean for hours, rinse them under the water. Heat your steamer and put the mung bean inside. Steam the mung bean until it becomes soft and cooked, then leave it aside to cool down. Make sure to check the mung beans sometimes while steaming. Don’t steam them for too long, it may make the beans to be too soft and crushed.

Step 4:

– Heat up a pot of water while mixing the cubes with flour. When all the pomelo cubes are covered with flour and dry, put them into the boiling pot. Boil for about 5 minutes. 

– Prepare a bowl of cold water and ice. Take all the pomelo cubes out by a filter to drain, then put them into the cold water bowl. The icy water will make the cubes to be chewier as well as crunchier.

– When the cubes cool down, drain them then put aside for the next step.

Step 5: 

– Place a pot of water on the stove to boil. Measure the water with the right amount as you want then add sugar and a little salt to the pot. When the soup boils, keep the heat low. Add the vanilla leaves, the steamed mung bean and Pomelo white cubes then stir well. 

– Mix the tapioca starch with water in a small bowl, then pour into the boiling pot above. While pouring the water, keep stirring it well. The tapioca starch will make your soup to be thicker.

– You should pour it little by little until the soup thickens. Adjust the amount of water. If you want the soup less thick, put more water. It’s up to your choice.

– Wait until the soup boils, then turn off the heat.

Step 6: 

– Put the sweet soup in a bowl or a cup, pour the coconut milk on top and enjoy. You can have the soup warm or cold with ice. This delicious soup is ideal for summer and winter.

Note: You can add pomelo flower to the soup for a great fragrance. The flower will make your sweet soup have a fresh smell of grapefruit. If you don’t have the pomelo flower, use some vanilla extract or vanilla powder instead. Both can create a wonderful smell to the soup.

       All in all, it’s not too hard to make Vietnamese grapefruit sweet soup – Che Buoi. With the detailed guide above, we hope that you will have a fun time cooking. The traditional pomelo sweet soup has a golden and shining yellow look. However, you also can use other beans for the soup as your own favourites, such as green beans, red beans or even black beans. If you don’t have tapioca starch, you can use cornstarch or sticky rice flour. The most important part is the crunchy and chewy white flesh.

Learn for more delicious Vietnamese recipe, good luck, and have fun cooking time!

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