Crowded with customers because of sticky rice soaked in coconut water

Currently causing a fever on social networks

These days, the sticky rice cart of Ms. Cao Kim Thoa (62 years old, living in Binh Chanh District) located on Tung Thien Vuong Street (District 8, near the foot of Cha Va Bridge) suddenly became popular on social networks, with many people sharing its address.

Ms. Thoa said she has been selling sticky rice since she was 21 years old.

[CLIP]: 40-year-old sticky rice cart wrapped in banana leaves in Ho Chi Minh City.

That is why when I came to this sticky rice cart at 8 o'clock, I saw a long line of people waiting, the sticky rice was almost sold out even though I knew this sticky rice shop usually sells from 5 o'clock to 10 o'clock. "The sticky rice is sold out, come back in the afternoon!", many customers who came to buy sticky rice sadly left after hearing the owner's words, deciding to come back to buy another time.

I have been eating here for more than 6 years, since I got married and moved here. Normally, your sticky rice is very crowded, you have to wait a bit but you can still buy it. I don't know why it's so crowded these days, if you come a little late, you won't be able to eat!

Mr. Dang Tuan Duy, Regular Customer

Among those customers was Mr. Dang Tuan Duy (28 years old, living in District 8). The customer said that he normally goes to work at 7:30 and stops by here to buy sticky rice. He buys it for breakfast or dinner 5-6 times a week because the sticky rice is delicious, but for 3 days in a row he came here but couldn't buy it.

Sticky rice here costs 17,000, you can add more depending on your needs.

“I have been eating here for more than 6 years, since I got married and moved here. Normally, your sticky rice is very crowded, you have to wait a bit but you can still buy it. I don't know why it's so crowded these days, if you come a little late you won't be able to eat. I just run along the road to see if there's a place that sells breakfast and buy it," he said.

As one of the last customers to buy sticky rice, Ms. Hanh (living in District 5) said she accidentally found out about this sticky rice shop online when it was "hot" in the past few days. Although she tried to go early, when she arrived, the sticky rice was almost sold out.

“I almost couldn’t buy sticky rice. I saw that the shop only wrapped it in banana leaves, and the owner soaked it in coconut water so it tasted really good. When I got there, it was true! Just looking at it made me think it was delicious,” she commented.

The sticky rice is simple but attractive.

While busily preparing sticky rice for customers, Mrs. Thoa confided that it was not just recently that her sticky rice shop had a stable number of regular customers, and was always crowded, especially when students were not on summer vacation.

The sticky rice that Mrs. Thoa sells looks simple, when eaten with dried shrimp, stir-fried cabbage, Chinese sausage, quail eggs, pork floss, and peanuts, but combined together it creates a childhood flavor different from other places.

In addition, the sticky rice here is cooked with coconut water, so that the "sticky rice absorbs coconut water" so it is fluffy and shiny, with a slightly sweet taste. Besides, the restaurant also has pandan sticky rice, cooked entirely with natural pandan leaves, served with mung beans like broken sticky rice.

Sticky rice is wrapped entirely in banana leaves.

“The reason I have been wrapping it in banana leaves for a long time is because I find it more beautiful, and the sticky rice stays hot longer. If I put it in a plastic box, it will quickly cool down and become hard, which customers don't like and I don't like either. No matter the size, I have to wrap it in banana leaves because it makes the sticky rice taste better when it reaches customers," Ms. Thoa revealed the reason.

Why such a unique name?

I wondered why many customers call this place “firefighting sticky rice”, the owner laughed and said it was because it was located near the fire station in District 8 so it was easy to find the place to buy sticky rice, she also thought it was interesting. But to her, the name is not important, the important thing is that the sticky rice is delicious and the customers like it.

As I observed, Mrs. Thoa and her husband are quite “indulgent” with their customers. No matter what the customers request, what they like to eat or what they cannot eat, the owner enthusiastically accommodates them. She said she wants customers to have the best experience and be most satisfied when they visit and support the restaurant.

For each meal, the owner tries her best to please the guests.

At the age of 20, the owner got married. At the age of 21, because she wanted to have a job to make a living and also liked the job of selling sticky rice, "seeing how beautiful the sticky rice was", the owner decided to open a shop. It is called a shop, but at that time, Mrs. Thoa's sticky rice was just a table, selling about 2 kg of sticky rice a day.

Although she had worked at the restaurant for many years, cooking sticky rice for Ms. Thoa in the early days was difficult because she admitted that her cooking was not good and customers did not like it. Many times, she had to throw away the sticky rice because it did not sell well and she could not finish it.

The reason I have wrapped it in banana leaves for a long time is because I find it more beautiful, the sticky rice stays hot longer, but if I put it in a plastic box, it will quickly cool down and become hard, which customers do not like and I do not like either. No matter the size, I have to wrap it in banana leaves because it makes the sticky rice taste delicious when it reaches customers!

Mrs. Thoa, Seller

“The profession teaches me how to cook better, and I find my own secrets for making sticky rice. Customers have come to support me since then and have been with me, some for decades. After my husband quit his job as a freelancer, he has also helped sell for more than ten years now,” the owner said, looking at Mr. Ngo Van Hung (63 years old, Mrs. Thoa’s husband) busily cleaning up.

The owner is passing on the profession to her daughter, so that she can inherit it in the future.

Mrs. Thoa said that this sticky rice cart has been replaced 3 times, every ten years it breaks down and needs to be replaced. But thanks to these "generations" of sticky rice carts, she has been able to support her whole family and raise her children to adulthood. She is currently "training" and passing on the profession to her youngest daughter so that she can inherit her mother's restaurant when she no longer has the strength to sell.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/xoi-cuu-hoa-o-tphcm-40-nam-goi-la-chuoi-khach-dong-vi-xoi-ngam-nuoc-dua-185230621102905569.htm