Growing up in a rural area in Thai Nguyen , he never thought he would one day become a chef, but fate led Nguyen Van Thuc (37 years old) to become a chef for 19 years.
Strange guest makes chef "change his life"
At the age of 18, Thuc was introduced by his uncle to work as a kitchen assistant in a restaurant. He always tried to work hard. From here, he explored, learned and began to love the cooking profession.
The fish noodle shop is crowded even though it is quite sunny and hot in the summer.
Seeing that he had a knack for cooking, his family advised him to go to school to get a degree, then return to pursue a formal career. He listened. Luckily, the young man from Thai Nguyen had the opportunity to go to Hanoi to work and found a suitable job.
After many years working as a kitchen assistant, he became head chef at many restaurants in Hanoi's Old Quarter.
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The memory that he remembers most and perhaps the reason that brought him to his current success is a special guest he met when he was still a chef at a restaurant on Ma May Street (Hanoi).
“While working in the old town, I happened to meet a Vietnamese man living in Shenzhen (China). This customer couldn’t stop praising the bowl of pho I cooked. He came back to my restaurant many times after going to many restaurants to find the right taste.
Because that customer is also in the food business and intends to find a chef.
He praised my pho as very delicious, with an attractive flavor, matching his criteria for choosing a chef in Shenzhen. He invited me to come there to share the recipe with the chefs at his store for a year, so that they could master this pho dish," Mr. Thuc recounted.
With a generous salary, Mr. Thuc decided to give it a try. In 2018, he quit his position as head chef and went to work in China.
During that time, Mr. Thuc occasionally enjoyed dishes cooked by Chinese chefs. Among them was a noodle dish that inspired his current fish noodle dish in Vietnam.
“That time a chef in China cooked me a bowl of fish soup. I ate it very well and found the broth to be milky white, very strange and special.
Realizing that in Vietnam there is a type of fish that is suitable for making broth like this, the idea came to my mind to return to my hometown to open a fish noodle shop and to make my broth as unique and delicious as that," he shared.
2 failures fuel success
Returning to Vietnam in early 2019, Mr. Thuc improved his knowledge, found recipes, found a location, gathered capital and decided to open a fish noodle shop.
He uses ingredients such as giant shrimp and small natural fish, simmered for 12 hours, pureed, blended and filtered to get the broth. This broth is white like milk. That is why his noodle dish is called milk fish noodle.
However, because he did not have much experience and customers were not used to eating noodles with strange broth, his business failed.
The first location in An Khanh (Hoai Duc, Hanoi) opened at the end of 2019 and had to close after only a few months due to lack of customers. He raised more capital and opened a second location in Van Khe (Ha Dong) in 2022. This location also had to close shortly after.
“Failure is the mother of success”, Mr. Thuc always uses that saying as a lever to not give up his career. He found a reason and then decided to open the shop again in October 2023 in Van Phuc (Ha Dong).
Not only does he know how to make broth without a fishy smell, he also learns from choosing a location.
“I require the fish supplier to use the same water source the fish are living in to store and transport the fish to the store. Thanks to that, the water environment of the fish is not changed, and the quality is maintained.
Instead of choosing a location in an alley, I invested in renting a large space in a convenient location with many residents, attracting customers. Even though it cost more money, I still took the risk," he said.
He also draws experience from each time he chooses food, ensuring it is always fresh and of good quality. He looks for suppliers, surveys them in person and commits to the quality with the source.
Among the vegetables, he chose Malabar spinach which has a sweet taste, suitable for fish noodle soup and many people's taste. After 3 months of opening, the fish noodle shop at the first location in Van Phuc has attracted a lot of customers.
Service attitude is also what Mr. Thuc aims for. Coming to the restaurant, customers will be given free iced tea, brought to the table. After eating, customers will be given free candy to avoid fishy taste.
“The seasoning for my fish noodle dish is quite simple, using only seasoning powder, sugar and fish sauce. I think that the more spices a dish has, the more it loses its rusticity."
Mr. Thuc said that when he first opened the restaurant, most customers were curious about the milky white broth. Every day, he and his staff had to explain to many customers.
Many people were afraid and did not dare to eat it. But when he explained how to prepare it, the customers nodded and tried it.
“Once, two customers came to eat but the restaurant was out of food. They told me to try to make two servings for them, and that eating less was fine. Seeing them travel 5-7km to my restaurant and still want to eat my food so much, I felt very happy,” he said.
Mr. Thuc's family, parents and wife all help him sell goods and are very proud of his current achievements.
3 months after opening the first facility, Mr. Thuc opened the second facility in Linh Dam (Hanoi) and continued to open the third facility in Nguyen Co Thach (Hanoi).
Currently, in addition to his job as a chef, he is also the Vice President of the Thai Nguyen Chefs Association. He always loves his job and wants to inspire those who are eager to learn. Many students have come to him to learn how to make fish noodles, and he is willing to give them enthusiastic instructions.
“I have achieved the success I have today, not only because of fate but also because of hard work and strong belief in the future. I am grateful for the experiences, difficulties, and failures that have helped me stand on my own two feet,” Mr. Thuc confided.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/dau-bep-u40-o-ha-noi-doi-doi-nho-vi-khach-la-mo-3-quan-bun-ca-sua-hut-khach-2401118.html
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