Sâm bổ lượng

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Sâm bổ lượng

Chinese name

Transliterations
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin:	qīng bǔ liáng
Yue (Cantonese)
- Jyutping:	cing1 bou2 leung2 (NOT leung4)

Vietnamese name

Quốc ngữ:

sâm bổ lượng

Hán tự:

清補涼

Sâm bổ lượng (also called chè sâm bổ lượng, chè meaning "sweet soup") is a Vietnamese sweet, cold soup of Chinese origin, similar to a tong sui (Chinese dessert soup). Although the exact recipe may vary, sâm bổ lượng generally contains Job's tears, dried longans, red jujubes, lotus seeds, and thinly sliced seaweed, with water, sugar, and crushed ice. In place of the Job's tears, pearl barley may sometimes be used, and thinly sliced strips of ginger and/or ginseng root, wolfberries, or ginkgo nuts may also appear as ingredients.

Sâm bổ lượng is most readily available in Cholon, the Chinatown of Ho Chi Minh City, and is generally served in a tall glass. Although it is sometimes described as a drink, the term "soup" is more appropriate as a spoon is generally necessary to consume the solid ingredients.

The original Chinese version of sâm bổ lượng is called qīng bǔ liáng (清補涼 in Hán-Việt: thanh bổ lượng; chingpoleung, ching po leung, or ching bo leung in Cantonese), and is most popular in the Cantonese cuisine of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau. The Chinese version of the soup^recipe is salty rather than sweet, and is normally cooked with meat (most often lean pork such as shank bones).