From the end of March 2025, instead of continuing their livelihood selling popular dishes that were already oversaturated, Thao and her husband decided to change direction and start a new business with a food cart selling Central Vietnamese dishes. These included Tay Son rice rolls, a signature dish of Binh Dinh province; xu xoa (a type of jelly dessert) from Quang Ngai province; and mixed bean sweet soup and tha sweet soup, all with the flavors of Central Vietnam.
"Few people sell these dishes here. I saw an opportunity and wanted more people to know about my hometown and the rustic dishes of the sunny and windy Central region," Thao shared. Not only do they bring the dishes, but the couple also directly order the ingredients from Binh Dinh and Quang Ngai to Long An to ensure the authentic taste and quality.
Mr. Ho The Hai and Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Thao, each working on a different stage of the process, always support each other in their work.
Few would have guessed that the petite, cheerful woman behind the tea cart was once a graduate in Agricultural Economics from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry, with over a year of stable office work. Hai, too, wasn't a professional salesperson; he had studied refrigeration and air conditioning repair and worked various jobs to make ends meet. They met in Ho Chi Minh City in 2015 and got married in 2017. They had always dreamed of returning to their hometown to start a business and realized that dream at the end of 2019. A small eatery was established in their hometown, but just a few months later, the Covid-19 pandemic struck, and their dream was sadly put on hold.
“After the pandemic, my husband and I moved to Long An to start a new life. Many of my husband's relatives live here, and my husband has also been here since 2012. When we first arrived, we sold noodle soup with a small cart, but we faced many difficulties. Every time the landlord reclaimed our premises, we had to move to another place. Customers gradually disappeared because they didn't know where we were going,” Thao recounted.
There were times when they felt discouraged and considered returning to their hometown, but then the worry of "what would they do to make a living back home" weighed heavily on their minds. So, they decided to take another gamble with their hometown dishes. The couple set up a small, compact cart next to their brother's noodle cart, making it easy to move and saving on costs.
From the early days with only a few customers, the Central Vietnamese rice roll and dessert stall now has a stable customer base. Some days, they even sell out early because they can't keep up with demand. "Every time we hear customers say, 'It's been a long time since I've tasted rice rolls like this,' or 'The dessert and jelly are exactly like the ones from my hometown,' we're so happy!" - Ms. Thao said with a smile.
Starting with simple dishes, Mr. Hai and Ms. Thao are striving every day, not only to make a living but also to preserve and spread the flavors of their hometown to more people.
Khanh Duy
Source: https://baolongan.vn/thoi-hon-que-vao-tung-chiec-banh-ly-che-a193437.html
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