Southeast Asian · 5 min · Easy · 2 glasses
Vietnamese Lime Soda
Soda chanh — lime juice and sugar syrup in a tall glass, topped with soda water and stirred at the table. Three ingredients, correctly assembled.
~90 cal per serving — Calories are approximate, per serving — a guide only.
Method
- 1
Make the syrup
Stir the sugar into a little hot water in a bowl until it dissolves completely and goes clear. Let it cool — undissolved sugar sinks to the bottom of the glass and stays there.
- 2
Build the glass
Divide the syrup and the lime juice between tall glasses, one per serving, with a pinch of salt, then fill each with ice.
- 3
Top and stir
Top with cold soda water and stir from the bottom up so the syrup lifts through, then drink it straight away while the fizz is still lively.
Notes
Roll the limes hard on the counter before juicing; you will get noticeably more out of them. The pinch of salt is standard in Vietnam and makes the lime taste rounder. For soda chanh muối, use preserved salted limes instead — an entirely different and much saltier drink. It is traditionally served with a long spoon left standing in the glass, so drinkers can re-stir it as the syrup settles.