Eaten since childhood
Early in the morning, the sun rose, the streets were bustling with people, I visited Mr. Hy’s small, unsigned sticky rice stall on Tung Thien Vuong Street (Ward 12, District 8, Ho Chi Minh City). Mr. Hy, with his hair dotted with silver strands, sat facing the street, making boxes of sticky rice to sell to customers.
Sharing with PV, it first opened in District 5, in 1990 moved to District 8 and also had a large number of "regular" customers. I ordered a portion of sticky rice for 10,000 VND with full: sticky rice, quail eggs, cabbage, pork roll, scallion oil, pork floss..., sprinkled with a little peanut on top, quite attractive.
Sticky rice stall for 33 years, determined not to increase price.
The special thing about this sticky rice dish is that it has quail eggs stir-fried with Chinese pickled cabbage, which is salty and crunchy and rarely found anywhere else. Regarding the quality of the dish, I rate it 9/10.
"Customers have been coming back for the past 33 years, you must have some special secret?", hearing my question, the owner slowly replied, most of them are regular customers for decades and love the taste of the sticky rice stall.
According to him, the sticky rice here has a familiar, special flavor that suits many people's taste, so customers support it. "I prepare the ingredients myself, I choose the delicious, sticky sticky rice. I stir-fry the quail eggs with pickled cabbage that is rarely found anywhere else," Mr. Hy introduced.
The box of sticky rice costs 10,000 VND.
Among the customers, there was Ms. Ngoc Diem (27 years old, District 8). She said that every day she stopped by Mr. Hy's sticky rice stall for breakfast. "I used to eat it when I was in first grade, and now that I'm married, I still eat sticky rice from him. I'm used to it and find it very delicious, nowhere else can compare. Nowadays, people cook modern sticky rice with many strange ingredients that no longer retain the same flavor as in the past. Uncle's sticky rice is sticky, rich in flavor and retains the familiar flavor of my childhood," she said.
Similarly, a regular customer called himself a "regular customer" of the sticky rice stall. "I've been eating it since the two of them started selling together, now that it's just him, I feel sorry for him. His sticky rice is different, I've eaten it in many places but none are like his. I've tried this sticky rice dish since I was little, and now I still like it. It's cheap, one box of sticky rice will keep me full until lunch," the customer said.
Mr. Hy and his late wife's commemorative sticky rice stall.
I give more to poor customers
Many people call this place "My wife's sticky rice stall", I curiously asked why, the 65-year-old man said: "The sticky rice stall is associated with my wife, the customers here are all her regular customers. After she passed away, I started selling in her place. Many times I wanted to give up selling, but thinking back it was a memory of my wife and I, I couldn't bear to do so."
Seeing people in difficulty, afraid that customers would not have enough to eat, he did not hesitate to give them more sticky rice and sausage. "In difficult times, we sell to them, we feel guilty. If we want to sell for a long time, we must put our heart first. If customers see that they are suffering, we will give them more so they can eat enough to go to work," he said.
Quail eggs are stir-fried with pickled cabbage to create a special flavor.
Mr. Hy confided that thanks to his beloved and supportive customers, he has been able to cover his living expenses for the past several decades. Currently, while the prices of many raw materials are rising, Mr. Hy still has no intention of increasing his selling prices. He said that this price is suitable for him and his customers.
He said the sticky rice stall opens at 6am. Although he has to get up at 3am to prepare, he is happy every day to be attached to the sticky rice stall in memory of his late wife, bringing the most dedicated dishes to please customers over the years.
Source link
Comment (0)