(Dan Tri) - Only about 300m long, Ho Thi Ky food street (District 10) is rarely deserted, attracting locals and tourists to explore with all kinds of dishes sold continuously from morning to night.
"Here, people sell food from early morning until late at night. Each meal has different dishes. You can eat all day without finishing everything," commented a tourist from another province who came to Ho Chi Minh City for tourism.
Many locals also share that the cuisine here has many choices for tourists, especially those interested in exploring the cuisine of the land of Cambodian temples.
This place used to be a desolate swamp in the heart of the city. Half a century ago, Cambodian dishes followed overseas Vietnamese returning home, creating the bustling Ho Thi Ky culinary street today.
Specialty areas exist for half a lifetime
Ho Thi Ky Street is located in Ward 1, District 10, connecting Ly Thai To and Hung Vuong streets. This street was originally an alley that existed for a long time, and was commonly known as the extended Tran Binh Trong Street. It was upgraded and renovated into a street in 1995 and was named after female martyr Ho Thi Ky (1949-1970) by the People's Committee of District 10.
Ho Thi Ky market is located in a small alley through a residential area, with a network of alleys leading to the main roads of District 10 including Le Hong Phong, Tran Binh Trong, Ly Thai To, Hung Vuong, making this place always bustling with activity and densely populated.
According to historical documents, in the 1970s, while the center of Saigon was considered the "Pearl of the Far East", the Ho Thi Ky culinary area had not yet formed roads. This place was described as: deserted, muddy and dirty, with more rats and cockroaches than people, makeshift, dilapidated houses, poor...
Due to the incident, a large number of Vietnamese people living in Cambodia packed their bags and returned home to escape the genocide, settling 1-2km from the center of Saigon. People gathered to live, opened small markets to do business and serve the people.
Many of the current vendors at Ho Thi Ky market are witnesses to the migration in the past, when they were children following their parents back to the country. They said that when overseas Vietnamese returned to Saigon, the government arranged for them to temporarily reside here, commonly called the Petrus Ky temporary residence area.
"Immigrants fled from many places on the other side where no one knew each other. When they came here, everyone relied on each other to survive and followed local customs," said Nguyen Thi Co (45 years old, a market vendor), whose mother was an immigrant at that time. She recounted what her mother told the reporter.
Cambodian daily dishes have since followed overseas Vietnamese back home, and people at that time mainly sold and exchanged them to eat for daily meals according to their familiar tastes. For nearly half a century, these dishes have become strange specialties in the city, such as dried Tonle Sap fish, num-bo-choc noodles, stir-fried rice cakes, and pumpkin sweet soup... which have attracted more and more diners to experience.
People gradually call this place the Cambodian market in the heart of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City.
Mr. Duong Quang Chau (64 years old), a Cambodian who returned to Vietnam in 1972, recalled new memories of Saigon. At that time, he could not speak fluently, gradually learned Vietnamese, grew up and did many jobs to make a living, but still tried to stay up late and wake up early to open a grilled beef stall for 33 years at Ho Thi Ky market.
"During the day I sell normal meat sandwiches, and in the evening I sell Cambodian-style grilled meat skewers. The recipe is the one my parents taught me. It's normal for my family, but strange for other people.
Living in the alley market, the easiest way to make money is to do business, and selling food is the easiest, especially snacks and popular dishes, which can be sold all day and night, while selling vegetables and meat can only be done in the morning. Thanks to the night food street, I have more income and improved my life," Mr. Chau squinted while grilling meat and shared with reporters.
Talking to Ms. Ngo Thi Bach Cuc (66 years old), the owner of a banh lot and hu tieu stir-fried shop for 50 years in the market alley, the reporter recorded information that this market has been selling food at night for several decades.
"Near here is the Petrus Ky bus station, where people transport people during the day and goods at night. Most of the people in the neighborhood are porters. They eat a meal at around 4pm, and eat late at night after work to stave off hunger, so the shops here also open at that time," said Ms. Cuc.
Through the historical changes of the city, the later generations of Vietnamese Cambodians have all grown up, settled in the alley of Ho Thi Ky market, and lived off the cuisine to this day.
Because this is where trading activities take place, it is called a market. Later, the local government planned a city specializing in flowers and cuisine Ho Thi Ky.
What to do to attract customers?
The Ho Thi Ky flower and food street is a project implemented by the People's Committee of District 10 since 2018, aiming to create a safe and healthy destination for residents and tourists in the face of the current situation of restaurants and food shops springing up massively and the security and order situation not being guaranteed.
On January 18, 2019, District 10 People's Committee held a launching ceremony for a flower and food street in Ho Thi Ky area located on 73B Ho Thi Ky Street, to control food safety here.
To make the street recognizable, the local government arranged a sign "Ho Thi Ky Flower Street" from the entrance on Ly Thai To Street, next to it is a motorbike parking lot, going deeper inside you will see a map guiding you to visit the flower street, to the right of the market entrance is a sign for the night food court.
After planning a few years ago, District 10 People's Committee counted 94 food businesses, now there are more than 100 food stalls, operating from 3pm to 11pm every day, welcoming more customers than Nguyen Thuong Hien street .
Diners visiting Ho Thi Ky food street commented: There are few vehicles passing by here, making it easy for pedestrians; shops selling a variety of dishes are located close together, customers can walk and choose dishes, go to any shop they like, most of the shops have tables and chairs for on-site dining.
In addition, the methodical planning is demonstrated in the work of ensuring food safety implemented by the District 10 Health Department in coordination with the People's Committee of Ward 1 and related units immediately after the plan to establish the neighborhood was issued.
When it first opened, the businesses in the food street were supported to replace 70 tarpaulins and equip 33 specialized glass cabinets. Therefore, in terms of image, the shops in Ho Thi Ky food street have uniformity.
In addition, reporters noted that occasionally, a delegation of functional agencies from the ward and district went to the market to conduct surprise inspections when they discovered cases where people reported that the establishments did not ensure food safety or violated trading regulations such as encroachment and environmental pollution.
Ward 1 People's Committee also uses a rapid food safety test kit in its inspections to detect foods containing many preservatives and toxic chemicals that affect consumers. This is to prevent food poisoning and ensure the health of residents and tourists.
"Authorities come and go frequently, sometimes disguised as people going out to eat. That's why we, the vendors, can rest assured, and the customers can rest assured. Any shop with deviant behavior will be eliminated from the neighborhood," said a peach tea shop owner in Ho Thi Ky food street.
Ho Chi Minh City currently has a number of officially operating culinary streets including: Ho Thi Ky food street (District 10), Nguyen Thuong Hien (District 3), Vinh Khanh (District 4), Hau Giang (District 6); walking streets serving cuisine such as Nguyen Hue, Bui Vien (District 1), Quang Trung Flag Tower (District 10)...
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