"Sell until health permits "
Aunt Ty's beef porridge stall is open on the sidewalk, right at the intersection of Nguyen Trai Street and National Highway 1 in Ward 1, Dong Ha City. The stall is always crowded with customers, selling from 10am to 12pm and it's all sold out.
Aunt Ty's beef porridge stall with simple plastic chairs on the sidewalk of Dong Ha City
Aunt Ty is nearly 70 years old this year, living in block 5 (Ward 2, Dong Ha City). Because she is alone and old, she only cooks one pot of porridge, selling it when it runs out and then moving home because she doesn't have the strength to cook more.
Aunt Ty also doesn't remember exactly when she started selling porridge, but she estimates that this porridge stall has been around for more than 20 years.
For more than 20 years, aunt Ty has been selling here.
"I've been selling for a long time. When the weather is nice and sunny, many customers sit down to eat. If it rains, many customers ask for delivery or buy to take home. Every day, the porridge is sold out by noon. Many people ask me why I don't cook more to sell, but unfortunately, I'm an old woman, going to the market to buy the ingredients, then processing them, and then carrying them out to sell. I'm so tired, where do I get the energy to cook more?" said Aunt Ty.
Many people in Dong Ha City cannot resist the appeal of Aunt Ty's beef porridge.
There is no signboard or phone number to contact, so every time Aunt Ty takes a few days off because she is tired or there is heavy rain, customers just ask around... Everyone loves her because they miss the taste of porridge and feel sorry for her because she is old but still hasn't left her porridge stall. In response to that affection, Aunt Ty is determined to sell until her health no longer allows it.
Rustic but "masterpiece" dish
Beef porridge is a favorite dish of Quang Tri people, but not everywhere can bring the unforgettable flavor like Aunt Ty's simple beef porridge stall.
Porridge is cooked with beef and beef bone broth, with diced carrots added to create a sweet flavor without the need for MSG or seasoning powder.
Scallions, coriander, pepper, fish sauce and chili..., indispensable ingredients in Aunt Ty's beef porridge
Although the porridge pot is small, it comes with enough "toppings" to suit each person's preferences, such as beef tenderloin, beef tendon, beef bone, beef ham, blood... Diners can freely choose.
Each bowl of her porridge is only sold for 20,000 - 25,000 VND, quite cheap for a bowl of quality beef porridge. Therefore, Aunt Ty's porridge stall is always crowded with customers.
Mr. Hoang Nhat Phi, a regular customer, shared that everyone in his family loves Aunt Ty's beef porridge. "When I was young, without a wife or children, there were times when I ate beef porridge every day instead of rice because I craved it so much. I ate it forever and never got sick of it. Whenever I thought about it, I had to run to eat it right away. Sometimes when I was late and ran out of meat, I still ate the porridge without any meat," said Mr. Phi.
The porridge is continuously heated on a wood stove, ladled into a bowl, sprinkled with a little green onion and basil, with a little spicy ginger and chili fish sauce. The beef is stewed at the right temperature, not too soft nor too tough. Take a spoonful of porridge and bite into a piece of crunchy tendon, it is truly a "masterpiece", especially suitable for the cold winter.
Aunt Ty's hot pot of beef porridge
When it rains heavily, customers cannot sit down to eat and can only buy to go, because my aunt cannot set up a tarp on the sidewalk for customers to sit on. "Luckily, the weather is kind. Although sales slow down a bit when it rains, there are still a lot of take-out customers," said Aunt Ty.
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