The misery of being chased away by stinky tofu shops in Ho Chi Minh City

La Phuc Khang's stinky tofu cart had to be closed less than a month after opening because residents complained about the unpleasant smell.

La Phuc Khang, owner of the stinky tofu cart at the foot of Tran Quoc Thao apartment building, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, said that since opening in early June, the cart has been full of customers almost every day, and sometimes there are not enough products to serve. However, the cart is constantly chased away by residents in the apartment building.

"In the first days of opening, every day of opening, we had to close for 4-5 days to deal with the smell because the residents complained. I installed a high-capacity exhaust fan and activated carbon to deal with the smell when frying beans, but it still didn't work completely. The residents kept complaining," Khang said.

Khang's stinky tofu cart when it was still operating under Tran Quoc Thao apartment building, District 3. Photo: La Phuc Khang

He received complaints from residents that every afternoon, the smell of tofu "like a garbage pit" wafted throughout the neighborhood, "rising up to the 4th floor of the apartment building, and could still be heard faintly from 100 meters away." Many days, neighbors came to the car to scold him. Unable to reach a compromise with the residents in the neighborhood, Khang was forced to close the tofu cart that had only been in operation for 21 days and lost the 6-month rental deposit.

"The whole neighborhood reported it to the ward, so I had to stop operating and look for a new location," Khang said.

Ms. Hanh, the owner of a stinky tofu shop on Nguyen Thai Son Street, Go Vap District, said that people selling this dish have a lot of difficulty finding a location. Ms. Hanh started selling it 3 years ago and had to change locations 3 times.

She used to sell tofu from a cart at Ba Chieu Market in Binh Thanh District and Nguyen Dinh Chieu Market in Phu Nhuan District. The distinctive smell of this dish spread throughout the market because she did not have enough money to install an exhaust fan. Residents and traders at the two markets sued Ms. Hanh’s cart to the ward and asked her to move it.

"I have just moved to this alley on Nguyen Thai Son Street for less than a month. I rented a small house to continue my business and invested in an exhaust fan to limit the smell affecting the residents. But it is very difficult to handle it completely," said Ms. Hanh. In the first days of opening at the new location, Ms. Hanh was also scolded "What are you selling, so evil, so smelly".

Ms. Thanh Trinh, a resident living near the stinky tofu shop in an alley on Nguyen Thai Son Street, said that every time she passes by, she "has to go quickly." On hot days, the smell of stinky tofu mixed with the smell of cooking oil is "really haunting," Ms. Trinh said.

Stinky tofu is black and has a strong smell and is sold widely in the ancient town of Phoenix. Photo: Duy.H

Ms. Van Khanh, who lives in Ho Chi Minh City, said she was "shocked" by the stench of stinky tofu during a trip to the ancient town of Phoenix, China, in May. This is a famous dish in the ancient town of Phoenix, with stinky tofu carts sold everywhere.

Ms. Khanh also knows some tofu carts in Ho Chi Minh City and finds that the smell of the tofu in the famous Chinese tourist destination is much stronger. The owners of some shops in Ho Chi Minh City said that they have reprocessed it to be less strong than the original version.

After closing the shop, Khang went everywhere in District 1, District 3, Phu Nhuan District to find a place but could not find one. Khang did not have enough money to rent a house, while renting a place in the yard meant "he did not know when he would be evicted".

"I had to look for a location in a further district, in Tan Binh, and hope to be able to resume operations next week," Khang said.

Bich Phuong

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