HO CHI MINH CITY – Northern specialties on Chu Manh Trinh street are available, in autumn there are Vong nuggets, from winter to spring there are Canh oranges, Dien grapefruit…
Passing through Chu Manh Trinh Street, Ben Nghe ward, district 1, you will see a series of stalls specializing in selling foods with northern flavors, in front hanging signs saying “Hanoi specialties, Northern tea, sausages, handicrafts”. , Thanh Tri roll cake”… According to the seller, Northern specialties here “have everything”.
Ms. Kim Phuong, the owner of a shop, introduced her shop specializing in selling familiar items in Hanoi, from short-term foods such as spring rolls, Banh Chung, Banh Chung, nuggets, vegetables to all kinds of food. dried, used for a long time such as vermicelli, dried bamboo shoots, pig tongue bamboo shoots, bamboo shoots…
“Dry food can be sold all year round, but fresh food must be seasonal, wake up in every season. Currently, the shop has persimmons and rice nuggets in Vong village, and soon there will be Canh oranges, Dien pomelos. Spring rolls, sticky rice, rice. alcohol … every day there are goods. All are brought in from the North“, Ms. Phuong said.
Due to the long distance, depending on the type of goods, the seller will have different ways of transportation, some goods will go by car, some goods will go by plane. Product prices will also vary greatly.
“Goods by plane, customers order the same day or the next day, and goods by car take 2-3 days. Short-term, instant food such as fresh rice nuggets wrapped in lotus leaves, vegetables such as chayote. Fresh oysters, cabbage, melons… have to go by plane to keep their freshness and deliciousness. The price of the same kind of goods and the way of transportation is also about 20,000 VND/kg difference,” added Ms. Phuong.
The price is different, but thanks to the unique taste, customers in Saigon still prefer Northern vegetables even though they are grown in the South. A shop owner nearby added: “Besides the cold climate in the North, kohlrabi, and cabbage are in season sweet and delicious, but here, the food is not as good, so people have to transport it from the North to the South.”
In order to ensure the quality of short-term food, the Northern specialty stores constantly import new goods, from sticky rice cakes to rice wine, tea, sticky rice, and spring rolls.
In addition to importing Northern products to sell, some families on this street also make their own Northern food to sell to customers, both saving transportation costs, lowering product prices, and keeping the taste unchanged.
“My house rolls are also homemade and put in a styrofoam box, whoever buys takes them away and sells them, and the spring rolls are also made at home, brought from Go Vap district,” said Kim Lien, shop owner on Chu Street. Manh Trinh said.
Holding a bottle of vinegar, a typical spice of the North often used to cook crab cakes, vermicelli, and vermicelli, a customer shared: “I often visit the shop to buy banh chung and spices. In the North, near Tet, I will come to buy dried bamboo shoots. I have bought here for ten years, used to that taste and how to cook Northern dishes, my family is from the North.”
Previously, Chu Manh Trinh street was the place where many shops were concentrated. After clearing the ground to make sidewalks, the number of stores decreased. “Some people don’t sell any more or move, but my shop is still here, still selling Northern specialties, no matter how many years have passed, it is still the same now, but the buyer is still selling,” Phuong shared. Follow vnexpress