Chè Sâm Bổ Lượng Instant Pot (Vietnamese Refreshing Drink/Dessert)
Author: Katie Le | Katie’s Test Kitchen
Ingredients
For 6 or 8-qt IP (perhaps a bit less liquid for 6-qt) – Add more or less of each as there is no wrong way to make this!
- 1.5 to 2 cups of dried sliced seaweed/kelp (rong bien in Vietnamese)
- 5 ounces of dried lotus seeds
- 1 – 2 packages of dried longans (nhan nhuc in Vietnamese, blue box in photo below)
- 6 ounces pearl barley (bo bo in Vietnamese)
- 2 cups of dried red jujube/dates
- 1 to 1.5 cups of brown sugar
- 18 cups of water (can use hot/boiling water to speed up pressure building time)
Directions
- Wash all solid ingredients above really well, particularly the seaweeds. Do multiple washes as needed until water runs clear.
- Place pearl barley and dried lotus into inner pot. Add about 4 cups of water. Close lid and select Pressure Cook/Manual, High Pressure, 4 minutes.
- Once cook time is up, slowly and gently move knob to Venting to release all pressure. Open lid, add the remainder solid ingredients and 4 cups of water. To be safe, start with just 1 cup of brown sugar. Close lid and select Pressure Cook/Manual, High Pressure, 4 minutes.
- Once cook time is up, wait an additional 10 minutes for the IP to release the pressure on its own (10 minutes NPR). Then slowly release remainder pressure by moving knob to Venting. Open lid and add in about 10 more cups of water. Cancel Keep Warm, Select Saute and bring the pot to a boil. Taste the liquid to see if it needs more sugar or water if it’s too sweet for you. Adjust according to you taste, please!
- Once liquid comes to a boil, cancel Saute and remove inner pot from IP. Allow it to cool down to room temperature before transferring to single cups or large containers. Keep this drink in the refrigerator and when ready to enjoy, simply add some crushed ice! It makes a refreshing summer drink/dessert!


How long can this keep for in the fridge? How would you suggest making it in a smaller batch?
It can stay in the fridge for 7 to 10 days! You can break the recipe in half if you want a smaller batch. Cook time stays the same.