Chè Thái (Vietnamese Fruit Cocktail)

Red Rubies:

1. Open the water chestnut can and drain. You will only need about half of the water chestnuts.

2. Cut the water chestnuts into small pieces about ¼ inch and place them in a large bowl (the coating of the tapioca starch will make them bigger).

3. Add a few drops of red food coloring to the small pieces and mix thoroughly. Make sure there isn’t extra water or food coloring in the bowl because this will make the tapioca starch extra gummy.

4. Add one cup of tapioca starch to the bowl and cover all the water chestnuts evenly. To remove extra starch, place the water chestnuts in a colander and sift. You want to prevent extra starch from going into the boiling water because it will make the water gummy, too.

5. Boil a pot with about two inches of water over medium-high heat. In small batches, add the covered water chestnuts and stir to prevent them from sticking. When the chestnuts float to the top, remove them from the boiling water and put them in an ice water bath and stir again to keep from sticking.

6. Keep them in the bath for at least 10 minutes.

Chè Thái:

7. Open all the canned fruit, save the syrup from one can you like.

8. If you mix the syrup from all the cans, the taste can get quite muddled.

9. Cut jackfruit into slices, cut lychee into large slices, and cube jelly. Combine in a large container.

10. Add the coconut milk to the large container.

11. Refrigerate and serve once chilled.