Chè bắp has many variations in the Vietnamese cuisine depending on which region it comes from. Usually the preparation includes manually shaving sweet corn kernels and simmering the pudding for at least 30 minutes. Being a busy professional, it is hard to have enough time to cook the traditional way. My cousin modified a recipe used at the restaurants for home cook to make chè bắp easily. I like to serve it warm with a dollop of coconut sauce. This pudding is great for anytime of the day.

This recipe is very easy and takes less than 30 minutes to make.

Ingredients

1 ¼ cup of glutinous rice (sweet rice)

2 (14-ounce) cans of sweet corn, cream style with no salt added

1 (14-ounce) can of whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed (low sodium)

1 (14-ounce)  can of coconut cream

3 packets of vanilla sugar or vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of cornstarch

1 cups of sugar for the pudding and 2 tablespoons of sugar for the coconut sauce

salt

  

Directions

Prepare the pudding:

Wash the rice thoroughly. Cook 6 cups of water and rice in a pot on high heat. Let it boil and stir occasionally so the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pot.

   

 

When the rice becomes swollen and starts to split apart, lower the heat to medium/low. Continue to stir.

  

Once the water evaporates enough so that you mostly see the rice, add 2 cans of cream style corn and 1 can of drained kernel corn. Give the pudding a good stir to incorporate the ingredients.

 

 

  

Season the pudding with 1 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 packets of vanilla sugar (or 1 to 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract) to the pudding. Stir to incorporate the ingredients and turn off the heat.

  

Prepare the coconut sauce:

In a sauce pan, add 1 can of coconut cream, 1 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of sugar, ⅛ teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. Bring the coconut sauce to a boil.

   

Once the coconut sauce boils, turn off the heat and add a packet of vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

  

Serve:

Add a small serving of sweet corn pudding to a bowl and top with a dollop of coconut cream. This pudding taste best when it is served warm with the cold coconut cream.

 

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Authors: Hung Nguyen and Chau Hoang