Chè Bà Ba Instant Pot (Vietnamese Dessert Soup with Coconut Milk)
Author: Katie Le | Katie’s Test Kitchen
Ingredients
- (can use for 3-quart)
- About 1 lb of yam, cassava/yuca, sweet potato, taro – can be a combination or just 1 kind (removed skin, cut into small cubes, soaked in salt water for 5 minutes to prevent root vegetables from turning brown),
- 1/3 cup of shredded tapioca strips (washed well)
- 1/2 to 1 cup of seaweed strips/dried sliced kelp (washed multiple times, soaked in warm water for 5 minutes, rinsed well)
- 1/2 cup of peeled split mung beans (washed and rinsed multiple times until liquid runs clear)
- 1 can of coconut cream/milk, 13.5 fl oz
- 1 – 2 cups of milk (I used 2%)
- 3 cups of water
- 2/3 cup to 3/4 cup of sugar (depending on your sweet preference)
- 1 packet of vanilla sugar OR 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
- 2 Pandan leaves (washed, tied into a knot) – OPTIONAL
Directions
- Add tapioca strips into inner pot along with 3 cup of water. Make sure the strips are submerged. Select Manual/Pressure Cook, High Pressure, 3 minutes. Quick Release
- Once the cook time is up, Quick Release (QR) by slowly and gently move valve to Venting. Open lid and add cubed vegetables, seaweed strips, mung beans, sugar, vanilla sugar/or vanilla extract, and Pandan leaves if you are using. Give the pot a good stir and close lid. Select Manual/Pressure Cook, High Pressure, 5 minutes. 5 minutes NPR then Quick Release (QR).
- Open lid and add 1 can of coconut cream/milk and 1 cup of milk (can add another cup if you want more liquid). Turn on Saute mode and bring to a gentle boil. Adjust the sweetness level to your taste by adding more sugar. Remove Pandan leaves if used, turn off “Keep Warm”, remove from IP and serve!
Happy Cooking!




Would this amount be okay to cook in an 8qt or should I adjust the recipe?
It’s a small recipe. I able to cook with the 3-quart. So it would be fine if you use any size bigger such as the 8-quart.
Soo good! Just made it today and everyone loved it,thanks Katie🙏😍, btw if I like to add lotus seed into the pot,would the pressure cooking time still the same?
I’d add the lotus seeds with the tapioca strips and leave it in there the whole time. Let me know if it turns out good?
I have a 6 quart IP and would like to make for 12 people… should I double or triple the recipe? And should I double/triple all ingredients evenly? Thank you!
Hi Anh, I’d double the recipe for the 6-quart. I’d actually add less tapioca strips (don’t double it) as those expand a lot and will quickly thicken your sauce. The other ingredients can be doubled. Cook time stays the same.
Thank you Katie!
Hi Katie, love your recipes from FB. Just wondering, can you substitute the milk with something that is dairy free and which do you think would taste best?
Hi Vi, just replace it with coconut milk. Sorry for the late response.
Hi Katie,
Thank you for the awesome recipe. I was wondering if I can make this without using the instant pot. If yes, for how long do I have to cook it. Thank you.
Hmm I don’t have the exact time but you would need to soak the tapioca strips in water for 3 plus hours. Then cook until the strips are soft then add the rest of the ingredients and coconut milk.
ok, thank you. Keep up the good work.
Hi I just made this and street five minutes, my mung beans and sweet potatoes were still hard.
I just realized why. It’s on low pressure ugh. Going to do five minutes again.
I was going to say too… the setting might have not been right. 5 minutes HP is very powerful! Good luck!
Hi there! Can I use green mung beans instead of the yellow ones? Thank you.
It’s not typically used for Che Ba 3 but you can.