The owner of Gam Cau salty pho restaurant switched to selling bun cha, attracting a steady stream of customers thanks to her unique recipe.

"U Ha meo" is a familiar restaurant owner to many old town diners. Mrs. Ha (real name Tran Thi Thu Ha) is famous for "selling everything and it's always crowded". There was a time when her family sold pho in the morning, bun cha at noon, and grilled food in the evening, with customers coming and going all day long.

Before Covid-19, Mrs. Ha was most famous for her beef pho, often called by customers as salty pho on Gam Cau street. The pho is rich, considered saltier than many other places and the price is quite high, but the restaurant is always full, often requiring a wait if you come on the weekend.

However, after the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms. Ha closed her morning pho shop, leaving many diners regretful. "There's no special reason. Making beef pho is hard work, so now I'm old and a bit lazy. Currently, I help my children make bun cha and grilled food. Maybe next year when I'm no longer lazy, I'll reopen the shop," Ms. Ha said, quickly marinating a batch of grilled meat.

Every day, Mrs. Ha and her son and his wife sell bun cha to customers from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. According to Mrs. Ha, her family has been selling pho since 1981 and bun cha for more than ten years. Currently, Mrs. Ha's son and daughter-in-law are in charge of cooking and managing the business. However, Mrs. Ha is still the one who marinates the ingredients and mixes the dipping sauce to create the restaurant's unique flavor.

Mr. Le Quang Long, Mrs. Ha's son, shared: "My mother is famous for being meticulous in choosing ingredients and seasoning. From the size of the meat, the ratio of lean and fat, the type of oyster sauce, sugar, fish sauce... she is very picky. She is picky so my husband, I and the staff never dare to be careless."

Last September, during a visit to Hanoi , "master chef" Christine Ha also came to enjoy Bun Cha Gam Cau. The Vietnamese chef commented: "The restaurant's pork is grilled to perfection."

382470151 18387309943006606 8381037777901354648 n.jpg — Photo taken by "master chef" Christine Ha and shared on social media

According to Mrs. Ha, to make delicious sausage, you must use country pork. For pork patties, choose only lean pork belly mixed with fat. "Each piece of pork belly is usually only used half to make sausage patties. The rest, the meat and fat are separate, when sliced, it will not look nice, and when grilled, it will not be delicious. A delicious sausage must have a moderate amount of meat and fat, not too greasy or too dry, soft and flavorful inside, and golden and crispy on the outside," said Mrs. Ha.

The meat is cleaned, fat is removed, and then sliced by machine to a uniform size. Mrs. Ha sits in the shop and directly marinates each batch of meat with oyster sauce, sugar, shallots, salt, and massages it evenly. As the meat is marinated, the staff packages it tightly and then keeps it in the refrigerator before grilling. "My family's meat marinade is very simple. However, to make delicious meatloaf, the meat must be fresh, butchered, and used on the same day," said Mrs. Ha.

The steps of making the patties take place right at the restaurant, so diners can watch. When the meat has marinated for enough time, it will be clamped on the grill and grilled until 60% cooked. When the customer orders, the staff will grill it a second time until the outside is golden brown, slightly charred, the fat is sizzling, and the aroma is hot and fragrant. The restaurant grills the patties with a large and steady fire to burn off some of the fat, avoiding the patties from being too greasy.

Mr. Long, Mrs. Ha's son, is usually the one who directly makes the minced meat. The meat is minced with enough fat and lean meat, marinated with spices and then rolled into round balls. "Our minced meat is mixed with pepper to enhance the aroma," Mr. Long said. When placing it on the grill, Mr. Long adds a piece of chopped perilla leaves to enhance the aroma and prevent the meatballs from burning.

Mrs. Ha mixes all the dipping sauces. She doesn't share the specific recipe, but she says that to make a delicious dipping sauce, you have to use "high-quality" fish sauce. She usually chooses Phu Quoc or Nha Trang anchovy fish sauce, with a protein content of 30-35. Spices like garlic and chili are also carefully selected, peeling and chopping garlic herself, and Hue 's spicy chili peppers.

"Diners are now very sophisticated and picky. If our food is not delicious, they will never come back," said Ms. Ha.

Mr. Long and his wife estimate that the restaurant sells several hundred servings a day. "We don't have a specific calculation, but we sell about 100kg of noodles and 50kg of pork sausage every day," they said. Each serving of noodles costs 50,000 VND.

The restaurant is busiest from 11:30am to 1pm. All tables are full of customers, and there are also many delivery people.

According to many diners, the meatballs here are soft inside, well-seasoned, not greasy, the meat is fresh and sweet. The meatballs have the aroma of pepper and perilla leaves. "However, if you go at noon, the restaurant is crowded and you have to wait a long time. Sometimes the meatballs may be grilled too quickly, causing the meat to be burnt and shriveled," said Mr. Hung, a diner. "I usually eat around 11am, when the meatballs are fresh and delicious, and there are just enough customers," he added.

In addition, the dipping sauce at the restaurant is a bit sour.

Vietnamese-American master chef praises Pho Suong, Bun Cha Gam Cau and delicious street food Recently, "master chef" Christine Ha shared a series of famous delicious dishes in Hanoi that she enjoyed during her visit to Vietnam. These are all dishes from long-standing popular restaurants, loved by many diners in the capital and tourists.

Linh Trang - Tuong Linh

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