flipChè Chuối — Banana in Coconut Milk from Childhood
Chè Chuối — Banana in Coconut Milk from Childhood
Why this dish? Inspired by the street sweets of Indochina where Duras grew up: chè vendors sold these warm desserts in coconut milk. This evokes the sweet and warm side of a childhood otherwise marked by poverty and deprivation.
Soft bananas simmered in sweetened coconut milk, sometimes thickened with tapioca or sticky rice. A warm, comforting spoon dessert — the bright side of the Mekong Delta markets.
At the market, over there, there were women selling warm sweets, coconut milk with bananas in it. For a few cents you got a bowl. We had almost nothing, but that, sugar and coconut on the tongue, was a child's wealth. I think I never found that taste again except in memory.
- •Very ripe bananas — a few (soft fruit)
- •Coconut milk — as needed (creamy base)
- •Cane sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- •Tapioca or sticky rice — a handful (thickener, optional)
- •Salt — a pinch (balance)
Chè Chuối — Banana in Coconut Milk from Childhood
Soft bananas simmered in sweetened coconut milk, sometimes thickened with tapioca or sticky rice. A warm, comforting spoon dessert — the bright side of the Mekong Delta markets.
Why this dish? Inspired by the street sweets of Indochina where Duras grew up: chè vendors sold these warm desserts in coconut milk. This evokes the sweet and warm side of a childhood otherwise marked by poverty and deprivation.
At the market, over there, there were women selling warm sweets, coconut milk with bananas in it. For a few cents you got a bowl. We had almost nothing, but that, sugar and coconut on the tongue, was a child's wealth. I think I never found that taste again except in memory.
Ingredients (period version)
- Very ripe bananas — a few (soft fruit)
- Coconut milk — as needed (creamy base)
- Cane sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- Tapioca or sticky rice — a handful (thickener, optional)
- Salt — a pinch (balance)
Ingredients
- Ripe bananas — 4 (soft fruit)
- Coconut milk — 40 cl (creamy base)
- Tapioca pearls — 50 g (texture)
- Sugar — 60 g (sweetness)
- Salt — 1 pinch (balance)
- Toasted sesame seeds — 1 tablespoon (finishing, optional)
Method
- Soak the tapioca pearls in cold water for 15 minutes, then drain.
- In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk with 20 cl water, sugar, and a pinch of salt to a simmer.
- Add the tapioca and cook for 10 minutes over low heat, stirring, until the pearls become translucent.
- Cut the bananas into chunks, add them, and simmer for 5 minutes: they should remain intact but soft.
- Serve warm in bowls, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.
How it was made : Chè refers to a whole family of Vietnamese sweets — sweet, often with coconut milk, served warm or cold. Sold by street vendors, they were an affordable pleasure even for modest families, made from local ingredients: coconut, banana, sticky rice.
The contemporary twist : Serve in warm verrines with a drizzle of unsweetened coconut milk on top — an instant dessert that transports you straight to the Mekong streets of the 1920s.
Sources : Marguerite Duras, *L'Amant*, Éditions de Minuit, 1984 (childhood memories of Indochina)
Marguerite Duras · Charactorium
