Publicizing the baking steps, cheap prices, and delicious flavors are the factors that help Thu Hien’s two dumpling establishments attract a large number of diners every day.
About a kilometer from Hanoi station, Ms. Thu Hien’s dumpling shop is a favorite address of many diners, especially in winter.
The shop is located at 8 Cong Trang alley, Kham Thien street turns into. The alley is about two meters wide, just enough for two motorbikes going in opposite directions to avoid each other, but there are almost always customers coming to buy.
Ms. Hien (black shirt) said that in addition to the facility at Cong Trang Lane, the shop also has a second location at 71 Ton Duc Thang. The shop is open from 6am to 10pm every day. Both establishments only serve take-out customers.
At each facility, dumplings are wrapped and steamed directly and continuously to serve a large number of customers during the day. In the past, customers who came to buy cakes often lined up in front of the shop. Many people have to wait 15 – 30 minutes to buy, causing traffic jams in the alley. Currently, the restaurant has implemented a delivery service to reduce the number of customers coming to the restaurant.
At the facility in Cong Trang Lane, in addition to Ms. Hien as the owner, there are 4 more employees in charge of the baking process. Cake dough is made from wheat flour mixed with water, yeast and milk powder in certain proportions, put in a mixer for about 6 – 15 minutes.
After mixing, the dough is incubated for about 30 minutes, then divided into balls of equal weight. Staff will use a rolling pin to roll each dough ball into a flat circle to prepare for the filling process.
Traditional dumpling filling includes minced pork mixed with vermicelli, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and boiled quail eggs.
In addition, the shop also sells salted egg dumplings, sausage cheese, salted egg cheese, green beans and vegetarian dumplings.
The fillings are placed in the middle of the thinly rolled dough. The maker skillfully uses his hands to pull the edges of the crust together, covering the filling in the middle, creating a twist on the top so that the cake fits completely.
The finished cake is placed on stainless steel racks, lined with a layer of parchment paper underneath to prevent sticking. Before steaming, the staff uses food coloring to mark each type of filling to distinguish: one dot is sausage cheese, two dots is salted egg, three dots is salted egg cheese filling.
The final step is to steam the newly formed cake racks for about 10-15 minutes. The shop uses an electric stainless steel steamer, which can hold about 5 shelves at a time.
After steaming, the cooked cakes are about twice as large as when wrapped. The cake still retains its white color and is soft and spongy.
The cake trays are stacked according to each type of filling, ready to serve diners right after being baked.
When tearing the soft, spongy crust, the filling steams, emitting the rich aroma of meat and cheese. The bottom of the cake is not covered with paper so diners can enjoy it immediately without inconvenience. The price of a cake ranges from 3,000 – 13,000 VND.
On average, each day, Ms. Hien’s two dumpling shops sell about 3,000 different types of dumplings.
Coming to buy 20 dumplings at Hien’s restaurant on January 5, Mr. Nguyen Van Quyet, 50 years old, Dong Da district, said he had been a regular customer of the restaurant for about 3 years.
“The cakes here are both delicious and cheap, with many types of fillings to choose from. All stages of cake making can be observed directly. The machines and steamers are clean and shiny, so I am assured of the quality. cake,” he said.
The shop is open all day, peak hours are from 9am to 3pm. Diners should go to Nguyen Luong Bang facility (pictured) with a spacious frontage to buy cakes. Ms. Hien reminded diners to avoid going to the Cong Trang alley facility during peak hours (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) because the alley is small and often causes congestion, affecting other vehicles.
($1~24,000 VND)
Photo,Video: Internet (Vinlove.net)