HANOI – In the cold weather, the 12-year-old fried banh chung shop at Dong Xuan market becomes a warm dish, bringing a Tet atmosphere to many diners.
During the prolonged cold spell in the North in recent days, many diners came to Dong Xuan market, Hoan Kiem district to enjoy fried banh chung made by Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan and her husband, 36 years old.
Ms. Loan’s 12-year-old fried banh chung shop (blue shirt) is a small cart with no sign. Seating for diners is limited, there are about 5-7 plastic chairs placed next to the wall, no tables. Diners can park their cars in the parking area of Dong Xuan market, about 100 meters away.
Ms. Loan said that from around October every year, when the first monsoons arrive, many regular customers come to the restaurant. However, about two weeks ago, Hanoi entered a deep cold spell, and the number of visitors increased dramatically, mostly young people, including foreign visitors.
“Many days when there are too many customers, I can’t serve them in time. Customers have to wait in line for 15 minutes to get cakes,” she said.
Mr. Cuong, Ms. Loan’s husband, said that banh chung was packaged by relatives in his family. The cake is wrapped in dong leaves, inside is filled with green beans and pork like regular Tet banh chung but smaller in size, the size of an adult’s palm.
After removing the outer layer of wrapping leaves, place banh chung on the tray, wait until the underside of the cake turns dark yellow, then flip the other side.
Recently, the shop sells about 300 Banh Chung on average a day. On weekends, there are more customers, the number can increase to nearly 400 cars.
To ensure capacity, in addition to the aluminum tray placed on the counter, Mr. Cuong also used two small pans to fry the cakes.
After being fried, the cake is cut into small pieces and served in foam boxes lined with dong leaves along with soy sauce and chili sauce. A fried banh chung costs 10,000 VND.
Fried banh chung has a golden brown outer layer, crispy like rice flakes, but the inside still retains the toughness and flexibility like regular boiled banh chung. The soft green bean filling wraps around the fatty pork belly.
The accompanying toppings such as sausages, sausages, and green rice rolls are also fried together, so it easily makes you feel sick. Ms. Loan added sweet and refreshing pickled cucumbers to help balance the diners’ taste while enjoying.
After seeing posts and videos about fried banh chung on social networking sites, Hai An (male), 22 years old, Hai Phong, a third-year student and his girlfriend came here to enjoy it out of curiosity.
“Although the shape and filling are similar to regular banh chung, it is prepared by frying so it has a rather strange flavor, hard on the outside and soft on the inside,” An said. Because the restaurant is quite famous, An chose to come at 2:00 p.m. to avoid rush hour so he wouldn’t have to wait and be crowded.
The restaurant owner reminds diners to avoid coming during peak hours, around 7am – 9am and 11am – 1pm. Hang Khoai is one of the main roads of Dong Xuan market, with a very large traffic volume, easily causing traffic incidents or traffic jams.
($1~24,000 VND)
Photo,Video: Internet (Vinlove.net)