HO CHI MINH CITY -The fried dumplings at Mrs. Hoa’s shop has a crispy golden crust, filled with meat and salted eggs, and have attracted customers for more than 30 years.
Located in a small corner on Nguyen Phuc Nguyen Street, District 3, Mrs. Hoa’s dumpling shop always has long queues every day.
Ms. Nhu Hoai, the daughter of Mrs. Hoa, who is taking over the bakery, shared that the shop was previously located in Tan Dinh market, District 1, but has been at this new address for a few years. Thanks to the unchanged traditional flavor, even though the location is changed, the shop still attracts customers. On average, the store sells more than 2,000 units per day.
The shop is small but the customers come to buy quite a lot. In front of the shop, there is a small car, displaying a variety of cakes, while inside, Hoai, Mrs. Hoa and a few staff members perform the mixing and kneading process.
The ingredients for the crust are flour, which is mixed according to its own recipe. Every day the shop uses about 50-70 kg of powder. To save time and effort, the dough will be kneaded by machine. The filling includes wood ear, grated cassava root, minced meat stir-fried with spices, peeled boiled quail eggs, and salted egg yolks that have been steamed. Because of a large number of customers and the number of cakes are quite large, from 3 am, the whole family has to wake up to prepare before opening.
According to Hoai, each stage of making a cake requires ingenuity. The part for filling the dough and shaping the shape must be round so that when frying, the cake will be healthy… In turn, add the filling and eggs and then mold it into a shape, each one must be clean and beautiful.
After each cake is finished molding, it will be placed on a tray for the person standing outside to fry in a large oil pan. The cakes are sold to where they are fried until they are hot, about 50-70 pieces per batch. Hoai said that her family uses about 30 liters of oil every day to fry cakes. Oil will not be reused but will be replaced to ensure the health of diners.
“Although the shop sells many types, fried dumplings with salted egg meat are most loved by diners thanks to their thin crust, plump, crispy filling, fragrant meat combined with fatty salted eggs. The cake is the best when it’s hot,” she said. Hoai said. Currently, the shop also creates many new dishes such as quail egg pate dumplings, cadé dumplings… to attract and retain customers.
“Crispy dumplings, fragrant, drained of oil, not fed up, are a delicious snack, full of food but cheap,” said Ms. Hong Linh, Phu Nhuan district.
The shop is open from 7am to 8pm. In addition to regular customers coming to support, the shop also attracts many visitors and shippers. Each dumpling filled with 2 quail eggs and 1 salted egg costs 10,000 (0,4$) VND. If you choose to multiply 1 quail egg, the price is 6,000 VND (0,3$)…