At 2:30 a.m., the streets of Saigon are quiet, with only the dim street lights remaining. While most people are still asleep, a small house nestled on Nguyen Duy Duong Street (District 10, Ho Chi Minh City) has begun to light up, preparing to open. This is the place where Ms. Anh Tuyet (68 years old) has sold banh canh every day, from 3-5 a.m. for the past 45 years. With no sign and opening at an "unusual" hour, for a long time, diners have jokingly called this place "ghost banh canh" or "ghost banh canh".

"Ms. Tuyet, 3 bowls of noodle soup and 5 ribs please!"

A customer ordered food and quickly helped the restaurant owner move tables and chairs to the front yard when the clock just struck 2:30.

"They say the restaurant opens at 3am, but by 2:30am, customers have already arrived. Those who come early will have more food to choose from, and while waiting for their food, they can also help Ms. Tuyet set up tables and chairs and bowls. The owner is also old, so customers mainly serve themselves," a male customer shared.

Mrs. Tuyet uses the empty yard in front of her house as a dining space for customers. The restaurant has no roof, only 5-6 plastic tables and chairs. Most of the customers here are used to self-service because they know the owner is old. They find their own bowls and spoons, order according to their preferences, then pay and quickly carry the bowl of noodles to a certain location to enjoy in the middle of the night. Absolutely, no one is bothered or complains about this.

Setting up a small table right in front of the house, Ms. Tuyet neatly placed bowls and dishes, ingredients such as green onions and fried onions, next to a pot of hot, shimmering broth that was continuously boiled on a bucket stove. "Every day I sell 2 pots of broth, each pot about 80 liters of water, somewhere over 100 bowls are sold out. Usually after more than 1 hour of opening for sale, the goods are sold out", Ms. Tuyet said, quickly pouring the broth into the bowls, adding more meat, skin, and pig's feet according to customers' wishes.

Every day, Ms. Tuyet sells about 20kg of noodles and 30kg of meat, including ribs, marrow bones, some muscles, lean meat, pork skin and ham. The price here ranges from 30,000-50,000 VND/bowl. However, most customers often like to order separate meat to eat with, the marrow bones and ribs are both priced at 20,000 VND, ham is priced at 7,000 VND/piece, the price of the muscle meat or skin depends on the amount the customer orders.

“I get the meat from large sources, ensuring it is fresh and safe. After receiving the meat, I process it to remove dirt and odors, then stew it. The meat and bones are stewed the day before, and late at night, the broth is put on the stove and it is sold to customers at 2:30-3:00. I don’t let the meat get too soft, the stew must be chewy and crispy so customers like it more,” Ms. Tuyet shared.

In recent years, due to old age and poor health, Ms. Tuyet has had her younger sister help her with her work. "I've been selling banh canh since I had two children. I started selling because I wanted to earn money to send my children to school. Now my two children are successful and over 40, with stable families, but no one has taken over my business. They advised me to stop selling to save my strength, but I tried to hold on, because if I quit now, I would be very sad," Ms. Tuyet said with a smile.

The plus point of the noodle soup at the restaurant is the dipping sauce. According to some customers, Ms. Tuyet "told" everyone to combine 4 spices including fish sauce, chili, pepper, and lemon. Many customers also tried it and were surprised by this "simple but effective" combination, they jokingly called it "divine dipping sauce".

Mrs. Tuyet's "ghost noodle soup" shop has become a familiar place for many different people, from people in cars to the most ordinary diners. They can be workers going to work at night, young people going to work, going out late at night or simply diners with "rumbling" stomachs at such "awkward" times.

Khanh Huy (born in 1999, District 10), finished his night shift at 3am. Before going home to rest, he stopped by Mrs. Tuyet's noodle shop to find something to fill his stomach. "I've been eating here for 3 years now, every time I eat I have to order a separate portion of noodle soup, a separate portion of meat and beef. The total price is 60,000 for two full, filling portions. The broth here is sweet and clear, not too greasy, and the pork beef is especially delicious. I don't know how the owner found the meat with tendons and skin, on a cold night, eating meat with a little dipping sauce is already amazing," Huy shared with a smile.

A customer arrived at 4am and ordered a bowl of noodles with ribs. Mrs. Tuyet said regretfully: "Everything is gone, the ribs or ribs were all sold out since 3am. Now there is only a little lean meat left."

Although a bit disappointed that the dish was sold out early, the customer still ordered a bowl of meat noodle soup to eat. "There are 2-3 shops selling at this time on this street, but Mrs. Tuyet's shop is incredibly crowded. Sometimes when selling noodle soup, looking at it makes you think you're waiting to catch wandering souls," the funny customer shared, laughing out loud. "If you come a little late, your favorite dish will be gone immediately," he added.

It was not even 5am yet, but customers were still coming to buy, but Ms. Tuyet had nothing left to sell. She was busy packing up, ending a sale when many other shops were just starting to open. "I will try to sell for a few more years because my health is very weak. At this age, I no longer care about profit, I try to stay so that I have a place for people to eat at night. It is pitiful and pitiful for many people to work late at night without anything to eat," Ms. Tuyet confided.

Photo and article: Vo Nhu Khanh

Vietnamnet.vn