A mother-to-son dessert shop, famous for 30 years with 2 dishes that are jet black

With over 30 years of age, the famous mother-daughter sweet soup shop with two dark but delicious and unique dishes has become a familiar destination for Ho Chi Minh City residents and tourists.

Phan Bao Ngoc (left) and her friend went to Ha Ky to cool off when they learned that this is a famous sweet soup shop in District 5. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Mother-to-daughter sweet soup shop

At noon, to avoid the harsh sunlight, Phan Bao Ngoc (15 years old, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City) and his friends looked for a sweet soup shop to cool off. After a few minutes of searching, the two chose Ha Ky sweet soup shop on Chau Van Liem Street (District 5) to experience.

Bao Ngoc said that this is a famous sweet soup shop with a diverse menu of nearly 40 traditional sweet soup dishes. Following Ngoc, 2 Korean tourists also chose this sweet soup shop as a place to rest during their trip to explore Ho Chi Minh City.

Two tourists from Korea take souvenir photos of the shop's special desserts before enjoying them. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Receiving requests from customers, the shop's staff busily prepares various types of sweet soup in cups, bowls, and ceramic pots. The shop's owner, Ms. Ha Tieu Doan (born in 1963, living in District 5) said that the sweet soup shop was founded by her parents.

Mrs. Doan said: “When I was little, my grandmother would occasionally cook traditional sweet soups for my mother and me. Later, when our family faced difficulties and did not know what to do to make a living, my mother remembered my grandmother’s sweet soups.

Then, my mother decided to cook and sell sweet soup to make a living. At first, my mother only cooked a few traditional Chinese sweet soups such as: black sesame sweet soup, tea egg sweet soup, green bean sweet soup, red bean sweet soup...

At first, the shop was very small, with only a few chairs placed on the sidewalk, and few customers.

The sweet soup shop has been around since Ms. Doan's parents' time. Photo: Character provided

In 1987, Ms. Doan took over the business of the sweet soup shop from her mother. At this time, the shop began to attract customers. Realizing that selling only a few traditional sweet soups would not retain customers, she created many new dishes.

When cooking new dishes, she pays attention to taste and takes note of feedback from diners to find a common formula for her desserts. In this way, she has created many desserts with unique and strange flavors.

Two strange black desserts

Up to now, Ha Ky has nearly 40 sweet soups including: black sesame sweet soup, red bean sweet soup, green bean sweet soup, black bean sweet soup, peanut sweet soup, sweet rice balls sweet soup, almond tofu sweet soup, ginseng sweet soup, red apple and longan sweet soup, strawberry sweet soup, lotus seed sweet soup... Sweet soups here cost from 25,000 - 45,000 VND/dish.

In recent years, Ha Ky has added some Vietnamese desserts to its menu to satisfy the diverse tastes of diners.

The shop has many desserts with attractive flavors. Photo: Ha Nguyen

For over 30 years, Ms. Doan has been preparing sweet soups according to a "recipe": choosing clean, quality ingredients, cooking sweet soups as if cooking for her relatives and children, and selling them as they are made.

Her desserts always have a distinctive flavor and guaranteed quality. This "formula" helps the dessert shop attract a large number of customers, becoming a familiar destination for Ho Chi Minh City residents and tourists.

Every day, the restaurant serves many customers who come to enjoy directly or buy to take away. The restaurant is open from 10am-10pm daily.

The desserts are preserved in hygienic and safe glass cups, earthenware and ceramic bowls. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Two desserts that are considered “specialties” by diners, making Ha Ky famous, have a strange black color. They are black sesame dessert and tea egg dessert.

Black sesame sweet soup is the first dessert of the restaurant. Not only delicious, black sesame sweet soup is also highly appreciated for its nutrition.

This dessert has a distinctive black color, is smooth and soft, and melts right on the tip of the tongue when tasted. Ms. Doan said that to have delicious black sesame dessert, the sesame roasting step is very important. Roasting the sesame to the right degree of ripeness will give the dish a delicious, sweet, and fatty flavor.

Black sesame sweet soup (left) and tea egg sweet soup are two "specialties" that made Ha Ky famous. Photo: Ha Nguyen

The tea egg tea also has a unique dark broth. This broth is made from Pu-erh tea and some Chinese herbs cooked according to a special recipe. When eaten, the tea has a light sweetness, the aroma of tea and the fatty taste of egg yolk.

According to Ms. Doan, tea egg tea is a traditional Chinese dish. It is considered a tonic, good for digestion. The recipe for this tea is quite simple, just take good boiled eggs and cook them with tea water.

However, the secret to this dish is that when cooking, you must know how to control the temperature so that the tea still retains its characteristic aroma, the broth has a moderate sweetness, and the eggs are not fishy but fatty and sweet.

Every day, many customers come to the shop to enjoy the tea directly or buy it to take away. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Ms. Doan confided: “Up until now, I have only known how to focus on cooking sweet soup to sell. I sell sweet soup according to the number of customers every day. When I see that it is almost gone, I cook more to continue selling.

I don't dare to cook much because I'm afraid that the sweet soup will spoil or lose its flavor. Therefore, I don't know how many cups of sweet soup the shop sells each day.

Many customers order tea in bulk through apps. Photo: Ha Nguyen

For nearly 40 years, I have been involved in the job of making and selling sweet soup. I have had happy and sad times, had to stay up late and wake up early. However, I have never found this job to be hard or difficult.

Because I cook sweet soup with the mindset of cooking meals and dishes for my family. When I see my relatives and guests enjoying delicious food, I am very happy and no longer feel it is difficult or tiring."

VN (according to Vietnamnet)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/quan-che-me-truyen-con-noi-noi-tieng-suot-30-nam-voi-2-mon-co-mau-den-kit-414771.html