The many wonders of che

My days are filled with mostly boring ESL stuff, so I am forced to write about small things I notice on the street. But focusing on the everyday stuff, the nibbles and bits, is one way toward everlasting peace I've heard! I have discovered che (I bought it for 25 cents from a street stand) and once again I'm struck by this feeling that though Americans adore their sugary coffee and other dessert-like drinks -- a desire whetted undoubtedly by the rise of Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts -- the Vietnamese are so much more advanced than us on this front.

Che, sometimes also called the rainbow drink, is basically the equivalent of a shake you might have for dessert, but it's also very refreshing and packed with good, but not certain, prospects for health. (I've neglected the accent on che. I have to figure out how to do accents in my word program.) It's wildly popular here.

Lena tells me there are many varieties -- almost an infinite number of them it seems -- but the one I had, pictured here, contained seaweed, tapioca pearls, sugared black beans and green mung beans, ginger syrup, a mint green sticky rice mush, licorice and jelly. The whole assortment of small, chewy things was topped with a few spoonfuls of coconut milk. My drink was served with ice, but you can find hot varieties as well: like hot yam che. Other ingredients can be red beans, pomegranate seeds, dates, lotus seeds, dumplings, mango, water lily bulbs, grapefruit, bananas, and the list goes on and on.